UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


PERU 

A  LAND  OF  CONTRASTS 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF   SAX  FRANCISCO,  LIMA. 


•W^*"-*  ~  / 


PERU 

A  LAND  OF  CONTRASTS 


BY 

MILLICENT  TODD 


With  Illustrations 
from  Photographs 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,   BROWN,   AND    COMPANY 

1914 


Copyright,  1914, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 
Published,  September,  1914 


THE   COLONIAL   PRESS 
C.   H.   SIMONDS   CO.,   BOSTON,   TJ.  8.  A. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 3 

PART  I.      IN  THE  DESERT 

CHAPTER 

I.    ALONG  SHORE 15 

II.    DESERT  QUALITY 25 

III.  DESERT  PERSPECTIVE 39 

IV.  PICA,  THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  SAND     ...  53 
V.    A  CLASH  OF  CONTRASTS 64 

VI.    PIRATES  AND  TREASURE  FLEETS       ...  76 

VII.'   BACKGROUNDS 84 

VIII.    LIMA  OF  Two  ASPECTS 103 

IX.    CONVENTS  OPEN  AND  CLOSED    .       .       .       .no 

X.    ANOMALIES  OF  LIMA 121 

PART  II.     IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

I.    THE  HIGH  REGIONS 143 

II.    A  MEGALITHIC  CITY  AND  A  SACRED  LAKE      .  159 

III.  MYTHS  AND  MONUMENTS i?4 

IV.  THE  INCA  AND  HIS  EMPIRE       ....  188 
V.    SERVICE  OF  THE  SUN  -  GOD       ....  202 

VI.    INDIANS  AND  LLAMAS 214 

[v] 


CONTENTS 

PART  m.     IN  THE  JUNGLE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    A  LAND  OF  ADVENTURE 231 

II.    TOWARD  THE  UNDISCOVERED  COUNTRY   .       .  240 

III.  JUNGLE  GLOOM  AND  JUNGLE  SHEEN        .       .250 

IV.  ANIMALS  OF  DARKNESS  AND  LIGHT  .       .       .  268 
V.    THE  JUNGLE  IN  PARADOX 280 

CONCLUSION    .      . 296 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 299 

INDEX      .       .       . 305 


[vi] 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

In  the  Monastery  of  San  Francisco,  Lima         Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Seals  of  the  Palominos  Islands 16 

Sachacha,  a  Typical  Village  of  Peru     ....  34 

Pampa  de  los  Huesos  —  the  Field  of  Bones       .       .  42 

A  Characteristic  Peruvian  Church         ....  58 

Wolfenbiittel-Spanish  Map,  circa  1529     .       .       .       .       72 
One  of  the  first  maps  to  show  Pizarro's  discoveries  along  the 
Peruvian  coast. 

A  View  of  Paita  from  the  Miroir  Oost  £r  West  In- 

dical,  1621 82 

Grapes  raised  by  the  Barefoot  Friars  (los  Descalzos), 

Lima 106 

A  Franciscan  Friar  at  Home,  Lima  .  .  .  .112 
Santa  Rosa  de  Lima,  from  Het  Wonder  Leven  van  de  H. 

Rosa,  Brussel,  1668 118 

A  Glimpse  of  Old-Fashioned  Luna  .  .  .  .132 
A  Trestle  of  the  Highest  Railway  in  the  World,  across 

the  Infiernillo 144 

Alpacas  on  the  Andean  Puna 156 

A  God  of  Tiahuanacu 164 

A  Swinging  Bridge  near  Jauja 174 

An  Heir  of  the  "  Makers  of  Ruins  "  .  .  .  .186 

[Vii] 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Indian  Water  Carrier,  Sicuani 192 

In  the  Market,  Plaza  Principal,  Cuzco  ....     200 

A  Market  in  Huancayo 206 

In  a  Fertile  Valley  of  the  Uplands        .       .       .       .212 

An  Indian  Pastoral 218 

Llamas  at  the  Falls  of  Morococha        .       .       .       .226 

In  the  Valley  of  the  Perene 242 

A  Sloth,  from  the  Historiae  Rerum  Naturalium  Brasiliae, 
Amsterdam,  1648 280 


[viii] 


INTRODUCTION 

"  Qui  peut  dire  oil  reside  le  charme 

d'un  pays?     Qui  trouvera  ce  quelque 

chose  d'intime  et  d'insaisissable  que  rien 

n'exprime  dans  les  langues  humaines?  " 

PIERRE  LOTI 


Peru,  A  Land  of  Contrasts 

INTRODUCTION 

ANY  statement  regarding  Peru  implies  a 
contrary  statement  equally  valid.  Contrast 
is  its  characteristic  quality,  true  as  to  the  gen- 
eral aspects  of  the  country  and  ramifying 
through  remote  details.  It  is  the  obvious 
point  of  view  from  which  to  study  Peru. 

The.  three  parts  of  this  book  —  the  desert, 
the  mountains,  the  jungle  —  are  the  three 
natural  divisions  of  the  country.  The  shore 
is  a  long,  narrow  desert,  much  diversified.  In 
a  fertile  valley  intersecting  it  lies  Lima,  The 
City  of  the  Kings.  The  river  has  come  from 
the  Andes,  on  whose  lofty  tablelands,  called 
jalca  in  the  north  and  puna  in  the  south,  flour- 
ished remote  civilizations  filled  with  mystery. 
Beyond  the  mountain  barrier  lies  the  jungle, 
geographically  the  largest  portion  of  Peru, 

[3] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

and  like  all  other  jungles  a  region  of  dread  and 
fascination. 

Peru  is  a  low  country  lying  under  a  mild  sky; 
but  above  are  the  mighty  Andes  freezing  under 
arctic  blizzards.  The  desert  is  barren  for 
lack  of  rain;  beyond  the  mountains,  the  over- 
productive  jungle  is  saturated  with  tropical 
downpours.  Along  the  shore  thunder-storms 
are  unknown;  up  on  the  icy  tablelands  of  the 
Cordillera,  whose  volcanoes  are  sealed  with  snow, 
lightning  rips  open  the  mountainsides.  Fire 
splits,  and  water  smooths.  Mists  are  strong 
enough  to  magnify  and  the  sky  is  clear  enough 
to  do  so.  The  puna  is  a  land  of  brutal  ele- 
ments, yet  there  is  found  the  little  chinchilla, 
protected  with  softest  fur. 

On  the  coast,  overhead  calm  is  counterbal- 
anced by  subterranean  fury.  "  All  geological 
phenomena  are  still  in  active  operation,"  the 
shore  rising,  earthquakes  changing  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  underground  rivers  dodging  be- 
neath a  desert  sterile  for  want  of  the  water 
which  they  are  hurrying  off.  The  people  who 
live  in  this  country  of  volcanoes  and  earth- 
quakes feed  on  red  peppers. 

[4] 


INTRODUCTION 

If  lack  of  water  prevents  the  heat  of  the 
sun  from  making  the  desert  productive,  so  cold 
prevents  water  upon  the  mountain  plains  from 
encouraging  vegetation.  In  the  jungle  luxuri- 
ance of  all  growth  conceals  any  single  benefit. 
Nature  erects  barriers  everywhere.  She  has 
surrounded  her  richest  gifts  with  almost  in- 
surmountable difficulties.  Fertilizers  come  from 
the  desert,  a  realm  of  death.  Mines  of  the 
Andes  coldly  hoard  their  riches  under  a  life- 
sucking  atmosphere.  Agassiz  said:  "  An  empire 
might  esteem  itself  rich  in  any  one  of  the 
sources  of  industry  which  abound  in  the  Amazon 
valley."  But  these  are  inaccessible  from  their 
very  quantity,  and  they  shut  in  beneath  them 
a  fever-laden  air.  Where  there  is  most  fertilizer, 
the  land  is  most  barren;  where  there  are  most 
precious  metals,  it  is  most  incapable  of  sup- 
porting human  life;  where  richest,  it  is  most 
difficult  to  cultivate. 

Such  is  Peru.  Elements  and  forces  contrast; 
each  combats  each,  and  all  attack  man.  Nature 
wars  against  herself:  tropic  heat,  arctic  cold; 
heavy,  poisonous  jungle  mists,  thin  air  of  the 
mountain-tops;  scorching  dryness,  reeking  wet. 

[5] 


PERU,  A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Even  obstacles  contrast  in  Peru.  Man  is 
threatened  everywhere  by  elements,  by  insects. 
He  drowns  here  or  dies  of  thirst  there.  He  can 
even  be  overcome  by  cold  or  sunstroke  in  the 
same  place. 

Peru  is  a  land  of  violent  extremes.  It  has  a 
range  of  mountains  as  great  as  any  in  the  world. 
The  towering  peaks  are  too  high  to  climb.  Far 
above  circles  the  condor,  the  largest  bird  in  the 
world.  Peru  is  the  source  of  the  world's  great- 
est river  system,  whose  luxuriant  forests  are 
too  thick  to  penetrate.  The  only  representa- 
tives of  a  lost  geological  age  inhabit  them,  as 
well  as  the  biggest  snakes  and  the  smallest  birds. 
Peru  has  great  mineral  deposits  in  the  moun- 
tains; it  also  has  rubber  in  the  forests.  Wool 
is  produced  on  the  frozen  plains,  and  chocolate 
in  the  deep  gorges  lost  among  them.  And  from 
the  valleys  intersecting  the  desert  come  cotton 
and  sugar-cane. 

All  kinds  of  obscure  substances  are  found  in 
this  versatile  country,  ipecac  and  cochineal, 
cocaine  and  vanadium.  Not  unlike  the  rest 
of  the  world,  chill  here  produces  fever,  but 
quinine,  the  best  remedy  for  the  disease  of 

[6] 


INTRODUCTION 

contrast,  comes  also  from  the  forests  of 
Peru. 

Although  nature  is  a  supreme  fact,  its  natural 
history  is  not  the  whole  of  Peru.  And  contrast 
as  a  method  of  interpretation  does  not  fail  for 
its  other  aspects.  Though  man  seems  to  play 
so  small  a  part,  he  has  lived  here  since  antedi- 
luvian animals  wandered  among  coal  forests 
on  the  Andes.  To  the  charm  of  limitless  nature 
is  added  the  mystery  of  great  peoples  destroyed 
before  they  were  known.  The  riches  of  the 
Incas  and  of  the  glittering,  vice-regal  Spanish 
days,  when  continents  were  found,  taken,  and 
explored,  contrast  with  present  poverty.  Con- 
sistently throughout,  the  riches  of  Peru  have 
impoverished  it.  Its  gifts  have  caused  its  ruin 
over  and  over  again. 

Wars  and  rebellions  have  riddled  the  country, 
and  bull-fights  have  filled  leisure  hours.  Though 
audacity  of  action  has  fascinated  historians  of 
Peru,  its  periods  of  peace  have  in  them  even 
more  of  romance:  a  nation  of  slaves  ruled  by 
a  monarch-god;  oriental  splendor  of  Lima 
shining  because  of  forced  labor  in  the  dark, 
suffocating  mines;  Arab  blood  in  the  con- 

[7] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

querors'  veins  penetrating  the  quiet  Indian 
people,  adding  a  keener  edge  to  their  sufferings. 
The  poverty  of  the  present-day  Indians  con- 
trasts with  lavish  nature,  "  beggars  sitting  on  a 
pile  of  gold."  Contrasts  of  nature,  of  people  to 
country,  of  antiquity  to  the  present  —  these  di- 
verse elements  are  insistent  wherever  one  turns. 

The  charm  of  contrasting  facts  is  puissant. 
Almost  any  one  of  them  might  be  the  text  for 
an  allegory.  To  guard  against  rhapsody,  I 
have  documented  every  statement  made.  Con- 
servative authority  can  be  given  for  every  fact, 
however  fantastic,  however  trivial.  The  few 
legends  are  in  a  sense  also  facts:  "  Une  legende 
ment  parfois  moins  qu'un  document" 

The  tellers  of  Peru's  story  deserve  a  history 
themselves.  First  came  the  falcon-eyed  mis- 
sionaries of  Spain,  sword  and  rosary  clattering 
beneath  priestly  robes,  to  subject  the  Indians 
to  salvation,  or  mercifully  to  condemn  them 
to  death  by  torture.  Had  they  been  less  con- 
scientious in  describing  all  those  quaint  beliefs 
and  idolatrous  practices  which  they  came  to 
stamp  out,  we  should  perhaps  have  missed  the 
chief  source  of  information  in  regard  to  the 

[8] 


INTRODUCTION 

Children  of  the  Sun  and  their  dependent  peoples. 
Military  writers  and  official  chroniclers  followed 
in  close  order.  It  took  them  some  time  to  re- 
cover from  their  amazement  at  this  land  of 
"  gold,  silver  and  pleasant  monkeys."  They 
wrote  with  convincing  emphasis,  "  Wee  that 
live  now  at  Peru  .  .  .  finde  not  ourselves  to 
bee  hanging  in  the  aire,  our  heades  downward 
and  our  feete  on  high."  On  the  contrary,  they 
discovered  that  they  were  even  "  as  near  unto 
heaven  at  Peru  as  in  Spain." 

Explorers  and  adventurers  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  were  in  the  forefront 
of  writers  of  romance.  Such  authors  have  al- 
ways, found  inspiration  here.  From  Marmontel 
to  the  Peruvian  Tales  of  Guenelette,  from  Frank 
Stockton  to  Jose-Maria  de  Heredia,  chiseler  of 
faultless  cameos,  who  himself  came  from  a 
dramatic  land  of  Spanish  conquest,  Peru  has 
been  a  word  to  conjure  with.  But  invention 
has  added  no  glamour  to  history.  It  cannot  keep 
pace  with  fact. 

Accounts  by  various  travelers  of  past  centu- 
ries, voyages  of  discovery  and  reports  of  treas- 
ure fleets  are  followed  by  the  students  of  to-day. 

[9] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Scientists  write  of  Peru,  each  authority  finding 
his  specialty  accented.  The  geologist  sees 
cosmic  forces  in  active  operation  still.  The 
anthropologist  studies  untouched  savages  in 
the  morasses  of  the  Amazon,  the  naturalist's 
wonderland.  Archeology  now  has  an  exciting 
preeminence.  Cool  authorities  admit  the  ama- 
zing antiquity  of  Peruvian  ruins.  The  historian 
finds  a  great  barbaric  civilization ;  the  economist 
ancient  systems  of  state  policy;  the  prospector 
an  extensive  system  of  navigable  waterways. 
The  mining  engineer  discovers  'inexhaustible 
mines,  and  the  agriculturist  unique  opportu- 
nity, where  the  uplands  of  a  farm  lie  among 
snows,  its  lowlands  under  rubber  groves  and 
orange  trees.  All  write  of  Peru,  and  an  increas- 
ing bibliography  affords  easy  access  to  every 
sort  of  statistics.  I  have  referred  to  a  wide 
range  of  authorities,  many  of  them  cited  in  an 
appendix,  to  supplement  my  own  observations, 
made  as  member  of  an  astronomical  expedition, 
during  a  stay  of  several  months  in  Peru. 

A  painstaking  person  while  in  Peru  wrote  a 
journal  containing  all  he  saw.     Not  an  event 

[10] 


INTRODUCTION 

or  an  observation  escaped  chronicle.  But  on 
reaching  home  he  discovered  that  his  really 
poignant  memories  were  not  in  his  journal. 
His  entries,  though  conscientious,  "  were  but 
the  ingredients.  They  were  not  the  secret  of 
the  philtre." 

Facts  make  their  own  appeal.  But  direct 
assault  is  not  the  only  means  of  approach. 
Sometimes  subtleties  are  best  observed  by 
looking  at  something  else.  It  is  often  easier 
to  see  the  beauty,  the  full  glitter  and  glance  of 
a  thing  in  another  object,  as  the  play  of  colors 
in  the  aurora  borealis  is  better  perceived  by 
turning  the  eyes  aside.  Sometimes  one  or  two 
minor  points  chosen  from  an  embarrassment  of 
interesting  details  are  all  the  imagination  needs, 
as  a  plant  selects  only  those  elements  from  air 
and  soil  which  can  be  used  in  perfecting  its 
tissue  of  stem  and  leaf  and  flower. 

It  can  only  be  hoped  that  this  book  about 
Peru  may  succeed  in  even  suggesting  its  unique 
appeal. 


[11] 


PART    I 
IN   THE   DESERT 

"  I  love  all  waste 

And  solitary  places;  where  we  taste 
The  pleasure  of  believing  what  we  see 
Is  boundless,  as  we  wish  our  souls  to  be; 
And  such  was  this  wide  ocean,  and  this  shore 
More  barren  than  its  billows." 

SHELLEY 


CHAPTER  I 

ALONG   SHORE 

THE  surface  of  the  ocean  is  unruffled.  Only 
the  heaving  of  its  great  body  suggests  the  power 
beneath.  But  when  it  confronts  the  desert 
cliffs,  backed  by  the  world-weight  of  the  Andes, 
the  force  which  has  been  gathering  all  the  way 
from  Australia,  so  mighty  that  it  can  be  com- 
pared to  nothing  but  itself,  snarls  into  uncon- 
trolled fury,  rebellious,  but  acknowledging  the 
limit  -of  its  power. 

The  "  Peaceful  Ocean  "  lies  next  to  a  land  of 
geological  unrest ;  the  coast  rising,  subterranean 
torment  breaking  out  in  earthquakes,  hurling 
cliffs  into  the  sea.  Even  the  busy  modern  port 
of  Callao  partakes  of  the  mystery  of  this  ele- 
mental land.  The  white  ships  anchored  in  the 
clear  water  of  its  harbor  gradually  turn  dull 
brown.  Might  it  be  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano? 

No  wonder  the  people  on  such  a  shore  build 
[15] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

bamboo  cages  plastered  with  refuse  and  mud 
to  live  in,  temporary  for  them  as  the  present 
stage  is  transient  in  the  history  of  the  land  on 
which  they  live.  Their  object-lessons  are  war- 
ring natural  forces.  No  wonder  they  are  brutal, 
slinging  cattle  on  board  steamers  by  the  horns, 
casting  a  stone  between  the  eyes  of  a  bullock 
to  make  him  turn  around.  Even  their  little 
children  play  at  bull-fights  with  horns  of  de- 
funct cattle.  The  soil  of  this  "  sea-gnawn  " 
shore  affords  not  one  necessity  for  human  ex- 
istence, not  even  a  drop  of  water.  There  are 
no  real  harbors,  only  niches  in  the  jagged  coast. 
But  few  lighthouses  indicate  danger,  and  the 
desert  is  chilled  by  winds  from  the  Antarctic 
pole. 

Far  out,  a  low  cloud  is  skimming  the  surface 
of  the  gray  water,  advancing  in  waves  of  black- 
ness. From  one  end  a  shower  falls;  at  the 
other,  a  column  rises  from  the  water  to  meet 
the  on-rushing  mass,  "  a  great  oval,  rolling 
forwards  over  the  sea."  It  comes  nearer  and 
nearer,  till  the  shore  shimmers  as  through  heat 
waves.  The  quiet  is  complete  except  for  the 
noise  of  millions  of  laboring  wings. 

[16] 


SEALS  OF  THE  PALOMINOS  ISLANDS. 


ALONG    SHORE 

A  cloud  of  birds!  Now  they  fall  to  the  water 
with  close-clapped  wings,  hundreds  at  a  time, 
each  a  tiny  splashing  fountain.  Their  hunger 
is  insatiable,  but  not  because  food  is  lacking, 
for  the  swarms  of  pilchards  beneath  the  waves 
are  vaster  than  the  armies  of  birds  which  pursue 
them.  Ancient  Indian  races  enriched  their 
irrigated  fields  with  these  little  fish.  A  curious, 
tawny  jewel  is  found  upon  this  shore,  known 
as  "  fishes'  eyes."  Might  they  be  fossilized  eyes 
of  those  fertilizer-fishes? 

The  appearance  of  this  coast  could  not  have 
been  different  in  antediluvian  days,  with  the 
screeching  birds  and  the  mammoth  terrapin 
off-shore,  those  associates  of  the  dodo. 

The  birds  fly  out  at  sunrise  and  spend  the  day 
in  fishing,  resting  upon  the  waves  when  they 
are  tired,  and  at  sunset  return  to  their  giant 
stone  islands  for  the  night.  Alone,  the  call  of  a 
sea-bird  would  be  lost  in  the  fury  of  the  meeting 
of  cliff  and  sea.  But  as  a  mass  of  white  gulls 
can  assume  blackness  by  mere  quantity,  so 
their  mingled  voices  can  take  on  an  overwhelm- 
ing poignancy  of  sound.  Louder  than  the  crash 
of  breakers,  louder  than  the  barking  and  snort- 

[17] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

ing  of  the  bald,  fat  seals  loping  over  them  in 
droves,  surges  the  great  cry  of  the  birds,  as,  in 
a  shower  of  wild  calls  diverse  as  themselves, 
they  settle  upon  the  rocks:  pelicans,  cormo- 
rants, mollyhawks,  gannets,  sea-mews,  gulls, 
osprey,  occasional  tropical  flamingoes  lost  among 
ice-birds  and  stormy  petrels,  wild  ducks,  Inca 
terns,  and  the  weird,  amphibious  "  bird-child," 
which  tries  to  stand  erect,  fluttering  its  carti- 
laginous wings,  braced  by  its  indistinguishable 
tail.  All  the  birds  of  the  ocean  gather  here, 
from  sandpeeps  to  albatrosses,  a  surfeit  of  life 
to  accentuate  the  barrenness  of  the  shore.  They 
are  multiplying  every  year  their  already  limit- 
less myriads,  useless  to  man  as  the  savages  of 
the  interior,  without  commercial  value  now  of 
any  kind,  yet  not  annihilated  on  that  account. 
It  is  said  that  all  are  souls  of  sailors  lost  at  sea. 
In  each,  stormy  petrel  a  lost  apprentice  lives 
again,  in  each  pelican  a  boatswain,  in  each 
mollyhawk  a  chief  officer,  in  each  albatross  a 
sturdy  old  captain. 

One  is  tempted  to  write  of  the  romance  of 
the  sea-birds  of  Peru,  if  romance  has  in  it  any 
of  the  fascination  of  waste  on  a  large  scale,  for 

[18] 


ALONG    SHORE 

like  barrenness,  waste  must  be  on  a  large  scale 
to  be  picturesque.  Where  is  the  impertinence 
of  it  so  overwhelming  as  in  nature  —  her  spend- 
thrift production  of  unused  powers,  and  the 
daring  of  her  destruction? 

A  German  scientist,  investigating  the  guano 
interests,  reported  eleven  million  birds  on  one 
of  the  Chincha  Islands,  for  these  are  the  guano 
birds,  and  these  wild,  craggy  islands  the  Guano 
Islands,  a  jewel-casket  of  Peru,  which  now 
abandoned,  emptied  of  its  contents,  stands 
wide  open,  staring  vacant  in  the  sunlight,  that 
its  owners  may  not  forget  its  former  fullness. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  pure  guano  a  plant 
will  spring  to  mammoth  dimensions,  lavishing 
blossoms  and  fruit.  Ancient  races,  even  the 
foreign  Incas,  realized  its  magical  endowments 
and  made  laws  governing  its  use.  But  land 
enriched  by  guano  into  immense  fertility  lapses 
after  a  while,  barer  than  before. 

A  few  sailing  ships,  hoping  to  glean  poor  rem- 
nants of  this  accumulation  of  the  centuries, 
still  huddle  as  close  as  possible  to  the  black 
rocks,  which,  because  of  the  quantity  of  that 
very  fertilizer  which  has  distinguished  them, 

[19] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

are  made  repellent  to  life  of  any  kind.  In  this 
laboratory  of  the  strongest  fertilizer,  there  is 
not  the  slightest  trace  of  vegetation  —  Peru 
in  paradox. 

The  sunset  blazes  through  the  fissures  and 
shoots  shafts  of  opalescent  light  under  the  great 
stone  bridges  toward  the  mountainside  of  the 
candelabrum,  veiled  in  a  hazy  shimmer.  De- 
fiantly gorgeous  it  is,  all  but  the  young  moon 
which  nestles  among  rushing  scarlet  and  black 
clouds. 

A  giant  candelabrum,  at  least  four  hundred 
feet  long,  is  hollowed  deep  in  the  rock  of  the 
sheer  volcanic  headland  above  the  sea.  Its 
trenches  do  not  fill  with  drifting  sand,  though 
the  natives  of  Pisco  make  periodic  pilgrimages 
across  the  bay,  just  to  be  sure.  Some  think 
it  is  a  sign  of  royalty,  a  flaunt  of  the  Incas,  or 
the  boundary-mark  of  a  conquered  kingdom. 
Some  say  it  was  a  warning  made  by  the  Span- 
iards after  Pisco  was  sacked  by  English  free- 
booters in  the  seventeenth  century,  for  though 
now  over  a  mile  inland,  it  was  then  a  coast 
town.  Such  is  the  equilibrium  of  the  Peruvian 
coast!  Others  call  it  "  the  three  crosses,"  the 

[20] 


ALONG    SHORE 

life-penance  many  years  ago  of  a  Franciscan 
friar  named  Guatemala. 

But  a  symbol  does  not  for  mere  inquiry  give 
up  the  secret  of  its  hidden  mystery.  Doubtless 
the  origin  and  purpose  of  the  Candelabrum  of 
Pisco  will  never  be  known. 

A  few  small,  square,  purple  shadows  mark  a 
town,  put  down  at  random  in  the  desert  beside 
the  sea.  Some  houses  are  made  of  the  ribs  and 
jaws  of  whales.  A  conspicuous  white  building, 
a  little  removed,  is  for  sufferers  with  bubonic 
plague.  Crosses  surmount  hummocks  round 
about  the  town.  People  are  making  pilgrim- 
ages to  and  fro.  And  over  all,  white-headed 
vultures  are  wheeling.  They  spread  their  wings 
and  cry  in  the  silence. 

Dust  covers  the  little  city,  clustering  about  a 
market-place  of  sand.  A  fountain  without 
water  mutely  occupies  its  center.  Lamp-posts 
without  lamps  surround  it,  and  the  mud  houses 
are  without  windows.  The  cathedral  towers 
have  no  bells.  Strange  plaster  figures  are 
sculptured  upon  the  fagade,  and  infants  with 
hands  put  on  backwards  hold  up  the  portico. 

[21] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Beyond  the  door  with  a  two-inch  keyhole  are 
Virgins  in  pink  silk  and  gold  tinsel,  saints  with 
rows  of  parallel  ribs,  angels  with  gauze  wings, 
towering  altars  of  gingerbread  work,  artificial 
flowers,  and  silver-paper  fringe. 

Glossy-haired  women,  their  black  manias 
(head-shawls)  thrown  back,  drag  stiff  skirts 
through  the  dirty  sand.  Half-naked  children 
gnaw  at  the  inside  of  long  bean-pods.  Mangy 
dogs  with  dusty  skin  and  a  sparse  sprinkling 
of  yellow  hair  slink  into  the  shadows.  Black 
goats  and  their  attenuated  kids  search  about  in 
the  sand  for  something  to  eat.  Men  and  women 
file  out  of  black  interiors,  carrying  gourds  full 
of  brilliant  edibles.  Meal  braizes  over  a  low 
fire  on  the  sand;  a  woman  crouching  over  it 
whips  the  flame  with  the  end  of  her  long  hair. 
From  time  to  time,  to  make  a  brighter  blaze, 
she  picks  up  pieces  of  wood  with  her  strong 
toes.  Near  by  struts  a  blue-eyed  bird.  It  is  a 
huerequeque,  the  household  scavenger.  Bits  of 
cloth  hang  about  his  tall  knees.  The  woman 
explains  that  they  are  trousers  intended  to  keep 
him  warm.  She  is  sorry  I  could  not  have  come 
a  few  days  later,  for  she  is  about  to  make  him 

[22] 


ALONG    SHORE 

some  new  ones  for  summer,  of  lighter  quality, 
with  lace  edges. 

The  market  is  held  in  the  bed  of  a  "  river," 
no  less  dry  than  the  surrounding  desert.  Old 
women  behind  piles  of  tropical  fruits,  guayabas, 
pacays,  ciruelas,  gossip  to  a  whir  of  small 
mandolins.  Heavy-browed  men  in  flapping 
sombreros  drink  thick  liquids  and  purchase 
pats  of  red  and  yellow  picante  (a  highly  seasoned 
dish) .  Groups  of  pack-horses  with  silver  bridles 
are  tied  round  about  the  market. 

But  surprises  are  lurking  in  these  coast  towns. 
Behind  heavy,  unexpected  doors,  the  single 
affluent  family  of  the  town  receives  in  a  peacock- 
blue  salon.  There  is  a  lady  in  brown,  with 
trimmings  of  blue  velvet  and  cotton  lace,  and 
a  perpendicular  yellow  hat.  Another  is  in 
purple  velvet,  with  swan's-down  hat  and  photo- 
graph brooch  of  her  sister.  A  third,  wearing 
green  velvet,  a  salmon  colored  hat  with  red 
roses,  and  holding  a  pink  silk  handkerchief 
embroidered  in  lavender,  sits  (purring  beside 
her  red-faced  German  fiance.  The  carpet  is 
red,  the  furniture  covered  with  brown  brocade; 
there  are  statues  of  carved  alabaster  with  gilt 

[23] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF   CONTRASTS 

edges  and  pink  cuspidors.  Gold  mirrors,  chro- 
mos  of  Venetian  court  life,  and  pasteboard 
calendars  of  bygone  years  hang  upon  the  walls. 
The  Spanish  tiles  of  long  ago  are  painted  over. 
Farther  up  the  street  a  door  may  open  upon 
a  wilderness  of  vicuna  rugs  as  tawny  as  a  lion 
and  softer  than  moleskin.  Shawls  of  tan- 
colored  wool,  silkier  than  Liberty  fabrics,  lie 
about.  One  is  not  surprised  that  vicuna  wool 
was  reserved  for  royal  use  in  Inca  days,  nor 
that  blankets  of  it  were  sent  by  the  conquerors 
as  offerings  to  Philip  II.  There  are  little  foot- 
warmers  made  of  vicuna  fur  and  chinchilla 
skins,  wiry  penguin  skins  and  a  deafening  noise 
of  singing  birds  in  cages.  A  black-eyed  girl 
with  hair  like  tarred  rope  stands  making  cazuela 
(a  thick  soup)  and  paring  guavas.  She  claps 
her  hands,  and  many  doves  fly  in  to  peck  the 
crumbs  from  her  lips. 


[24] 


CHAPTER  II 

DESERT   QUALITY 

A  CERTAIN  herb  lives  for  years  underground 
in  the  desert;  it  feels  no  necessity  for  a  leaf- 
existence.  Yet  if  the  parched  roots  ,are  reached 
by  water,  they  expand  toward  the  sun  in  lovely 
bloom. 

Up  from  the  shore  stretches  the  bare  im- 
mensity of  desert,  ending  in  one  tremulous 
horizon  with  the  ocean,  and  with  the  wilderness 
of  mountains  against  the  pulsating  sky  at  the 
other.  It  is  the  Land  of  Light.  All  sensation 
of  color  is  lost  in  this  great  sensation  of  light, 
an  ardent  light  "  shining  through  things,  not 
on  them."  Even  the  clouds  expire  from  excess 
of  light.  It  reduces  all  colors  to  mere  hot  vi- 
bration. The  translucent  mountains  swim  in  a 
sea  of  light,  reflecting  from  it  as  from  wide 
stretches  of  water.  Though  sensation  of  color 
is  lost  in  light,  their  huge  forms  are  distinct 

[25] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

in  the  radiant  atmosphere,  but  unreal  as  if  half- 
veiled.  —  One  attribute  of  mirage  is  absolute 
clearness  of  outline.  —  Insignificant  details 
emerge,  but  they  rouse  admiration  only  because 
of  the  light  investing  them. 

The  whole  wide  desert  culminates  in  illusion 
and  mystery  of  distant  outlines.  Everything 
floats  in  it,  as  it  sweeps  over  from  the  opalescent 
mountains.  A  cross  in  the  midst  of  the  shelly 
sand,  "  protruding  through  thin  layers  of  mi- 
rage," marks  the  spot  where  a  greatly  feared 
bandit  was  killed.  Skulls  are  heaped  beneath 
it,  with  matches  and  half -burned  candles. 

Water  being  denied,  the  desert  is  soaked  with 
sun.  It  is  the  Land  of  Heat.  No  plant  grows 
in  the  scorching  soil,  no  animal  can  endure  it. 
No  bird,  no  insect  flies  through  the  burning 
atmosphere.  Each  object  shimmers  until  it 
seems  but  the  reflection  of  itself.  Fire  descends 
from  the  burnished  sky  and  vibrates  in  the  air 
and  scalds  the  sand.  Yet  concentrating  a  tropi- 
cal sun,  this  hot  solitude  lies  between  the  cold 
ocean  and  the  mountains,  a  region  of  ice. 

This  desert  is  the  abode  of  weird  phenomena. 
Sometimes  a  globe  of  fire  springs  to  the  size  of 

[261 


DESERT    QUALITY 

the  sun,  illuminating  the  sky  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour;  then  it  dissipates  into  an  infinitude  of 
stars,  which  wriggle  off  into  bright  little  tails 
and  disappear. 

A  slowly  moving  company,  muffled  to  the 
eyes,  with  heads  done  up  like  Tuaregs  of  the 
Sahara,  mincing  across  the  desert  on  donkeys, 
suddenly  see  themselves  swinging  along  over 
their  own  heads,  as  if  magnified  by  a  gigantic 
mirror  in  the  sky.  The  clouds  give  back  strange 
pictures  of  one's  self  enlarged  and  surrounded 
by  a  halo  or  a  circular  iris,  summoning  a  saint 
or  revealing  a  fairy.  This  quality  is  inherent 
in  Peru,  making  ordinary  moments  ornamental. 

Near-  Casma  is  a  hill  called  "  Dreadful," 
whose  continuous  sandslides  when  the  heat  is 
greatest  give  off  a  sound  of  mystery,  suggesting 
heat,  like  the  roar  of  a  distant  volcano. 

No  matter  how  much  the  political  status  of 
Peru  may  change  from  century  to  century,  it 
remains  always  the  lair  of  earthquakes.  Mines 
of  gold  and  silver,  islands  of  guano,  deserts  of 
nitrate,  may  be  in  turn  discovered,  exploited, 
exhausted.  Earthquakes  destroy  those  who 
have  been  enriched  as  those  who  have  lived 

[27] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

beside  them  in  want.  Even  now  earthquakes 
are  almost  daily  recurrent  along  the  coast.  In 
laying  your  ear  to  the  ground  you  can  hear 
subterranean  rumblings.  Only  in  the  frequency 
of  slight  shocks  do  people  feel  secure;  otherwise 
they  know  the  underground  world  is  hoarding 
strength  for  a  fury  of  destruction.  As  a  traveler 
of  the  old  time  expressed  it:  "  The  inhabitants 
are  subject  to  being  buried  in  the  ruins  of  their 
own  houses  at  any  time." 

The  Indians  say  that  when  God  rises  from 
His  throne  to  review  the  human  race,  each  step 
as  He  progresses  is  an  earthquake.  As  soon  as 
they  feel  the  pressure  of  His  foot  upon  the  earth, 
they  rush  from  their  huts  to  show  themselves 
to  Him.  When  the  rumbling  becomes  loud 
enough  to  be  noticeable,  dogs  howl,  beasts  of 
burden  stop  and  spread  their  legs  to  secure 
themselves  from  falling,  people  rush  to  door- 
ways, and  churches  are  emptied  in  an  instant. 
Reddish  mists  steam  from  the  sea,  bad  odors 
from  the  earth;  distant  thunder  —  complete 
wind-stillness.  The  clouds  of  sea-birds  rise 
from  the  earth  and  fly  high,  watching  an  agony 
in  which  they  have  no  part.  Then  a  frightful 

[28] 


DESERT    QUALITY 

crash,  rocks  are  torn  asunder,  great  masses  fall 
off  as  islands  into  the  sea,  which  is  still.  But 
soon  it  turns  black,  boiling  with  a  smell  of 
sulphur,  and  many  dead  fish  float  about. 

Omnipresent,  the  earthquake  is  a  mystery 
which  no  laws  can  govern,  beyond  man's  com- 
prehension or  control.  One  never  gets  accus- 
tomed to  it.  Horror  at  a  first  shock  only  in- 
creases with  further  experience.  Earthquake 
is  linked  with  freaks  of  nature;  it  lifts  up  a 
ridge  across  the  bed  of  a  stream;  it  alters  the 
face  of  the  earth  so  that  lawsuits  spring  up 
over  changed  boundaries.  It  vitiates  the  soil. 
Blooming  fields  wither,  crops  are  lost,  and 
cattle. die  from  eating  the  scorched  grass.  The 
fiery  core  of  earth  is  nearer  the  cooled  surface 
than  we  imagine.  But  here  at  least  there  are 
no  "  torments  from  heaven."  In  Peru  it  is 
said  that  lightning  is  worse  than  earthquake, 
emanating  as  it  does  from  God's  own  realm. 

Even  the  climate  of  the  coast  partakes  of 
mystery.  The  clouds  hurrying  from  the  At- 
lantic have  drenched  a  whole  continent  of 
jungle  in  tropical  downpour,  and  before  they 
reach  the  desert,  their  last  drop  of  moisture  has 

[29] 


PERU,   A  LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

been  wrested  from  them  as  snow  —  drained  dry 
by  the  Andes.  The  tropical  sun  heats,  and  the 
Antarctic  current  bringing  its  icy  winds,  cools. 
Sometimes  one  predominates,  sometimes  the 
other.  For  the  red-hot  desert  can  also  be  cold ! 
The  low-hanging  gartias,  the  ocean  mists  of  half 
a  year,  chill  the  desert  and  cling  to  the  base  of 
the  mountains,  fading  lighter  and  lighter  up 
and  away  from  the  black  rocks  where  white 
surf  is  breaking.  Such  are  the  facts  of  the  case, 
but  it  has  been  thought  that  the  original  god, 
Con,  was  responsible,  for  once  in  anger  he  de- 
prived this  desert  coast  of  rain. 

The  desert  is  majestically  empty,  a  great 
"  vision  of  nothing  without  perspective."  Yet 
its  mere  emptiness  suggests  breadth,  backward 
and  forward,  up  and  down,  both  in  time  and 
space.  An  unheard  silence  lies  between  the 
empty  horizons,  perfect  except  for  the  "great, 
faint  sound  of  breakers,"  the  tumble  of  an  un- 
used ocean  of  water,  which  destroys  without 
moistening  the  desert  shores. 

It  seems  lifeless.  Harmless  and  peaceful  at 
least,  it  presents  nothing  to  be  destroyed  by 
sun-blight.  It  remains,  as  it  apparently  always 

[30] 


DESERT    QUALITY 

has  been,  the  realm  of  death  —  though  even  death 
presupposes  life  before  it.  But  disturb  the 
desert,  and  a  thousand  forces  spring  into  action, 
furiously  attacking  the  intruder.  The  heat 
of  the  sun  assumes  a  ghoulish  love  of  destruc- 
tion, and  at  night  the  stars  look  down  upon  a 
creature  shivering  with  fever,  reeking  with 
wet  in  this  desert  place.  Possessing  all  fruitful 
ingredients  within  and  kindly  elements  with- 
out, the  desert  sleeps.  It  needs  only  one  thing 
to  burst  into  life. 

A  mysterious  river  springs  forth  full-grown. 
From  what  glacier  or  clear,  icy  fountain  up  on 
the  frozen  puna  may  it  not  have  issued?  And 
then,  after  a  mysterious  incubation,  it  returns 
to  sparkle  here  in  the  light,  and  in  the  leaves 
and  flowers  which  the  dampened  earth  is  ready 
to  produce. 

There  are  traditions  that  sometimes  a  vagrant 
shower  escapes  from  the  magnetism  of  the 
mountain-tops.  The  flowers  waiting  just  be- 
neath the  surface  spring  up  like  bloom  over 
the  June  earth.  The  water  was  a  shower  of 
bluebells!  A  fugitive  vegetation  greedily 
spreads,  quickly  as  it  disappears  with  the  pass- 

[31] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

ing  of  the  water.  In  some  places  cotton  grows 
to  the  height  of  a  horse's  head,  a  luxuriant  crop, 
too  unexpected  for  harvest.  This  brilliant  life 
lasts  a  week,  perhaps  more,  and  then  lapses. 
Where  do  the  slumbering  flowers  conceal  them- 
selves? Where,  indeed,  does  the  pansy  get  its 
coloring  matter? 

The  desert  of  Peru  is  varied:  toward  the 
south  the  coast  is  strewn  with  borax,  white 
upon  the  cliffs;  toward  the  north  petroleum 
gushes  from  beneath  it.  Upon  the  red  plains 
of  Huacho  are  the  salt  lakes  of  Pampa  Pelada, 
reflecting  the  sun  in  a  thousand  colors.  "  White 
dust- whirlpools  dance  on  its  white  floor."  Its 
banks  are  scattered  with  the  bones  of  animals 
which  have  come  there  for  salt,  and  its  perpen- 
dicular cliffs  are  haunted  by  flesh-eating  birds. 
There,  gnarled  gray  shrubs  "  loom  as  if  carved 
out  of  clay."  Beyond,  the  desert  is  coated  with 
nitrate;  yet  here  it  seems  but  pulverized  bones, 
beneath  acres  of  white  skeletons  bleached  by  a 
thousand  years  —  gaunt  testimony  to  its  desert- 
dom  since  prehistoric  Indian  races  struggled 
to  make  it  blossom. 

In  the  Pampa  of  Islay  the  desert  takes  on  a 
[32] 


DESERT   QUALITY 

terra-cotta  hue.  Whirlwinds  progress  from 
hollow  to  hollow.  Above  the  purple  mountains, 
shading  away  from  the  red  desert,  bright  blue 
peaks  are  snow-covered  to  set  them  off  from  the 
sky.  Fog  shadows  drop  darkness  here  and 
there  over  their  barrenness.  Even  the  mist 
has  a  poetry  of  contrast. 

Across  the  plain  a  constant  ocean  wind 
sweeps  fine  white  beach-sand  along  with  waves 
of  color,  no  less  real  because  impalpable.  Its 
pilgrimage  of  a  thousand  years  toward  the 
mountains  is  uninterrupted,  for  the  wind  blows 
always  from  the  southwest.  It  causes  the 
rippled  waves  of  sand  which  it  brings  along  to 
assume  in  traveling  a  crescent  shape  —  the 
wandering  medanos. 

Sometimes  larger  dunes  overtake  smaller  ones, 
which,  so  absorbed,  become  firmer  in  shape  as 
they  journey  toward  the  mountains.  Should 
two  collide,  they  are  shivered,  then  blend  in  a 
new  crescent,  usually  to  separate  again. 

Growing  from  a  network  of  roots  within  the 
moving  dune,  the  snowy  heads  of  a  small  plant 
maintain  themselves  just  above  the  sand  as  it 
drifts  over  the  hard  plateau. 

[33] 


The  medanos  are  scattered  as  thickly  as  the 
crescent  shadows  of  some  vast  eclipse,  a  laby- 
rinth of  nature.  They  are  as  mysterious  as 
"  mushrooms  growing  in  rings,  marsh-fires  which 
cannot  warm,  or  the  shrinking  of  the  sensitive 
plant/' 

The  sand  drops  constantly  over  the  acute 
crest.  From  all  about  come  soft  sounds,  an 
overwhelming  minor  music,  almost  inaudible. 
Were  you  in  a  forest,  you  might  think  it  was 
the  soughing  of  the  wind  through  the  branches 
or  the  shuffle  of  locusts  devouring  a  tree. 

These  playthings  of  the  wind  have  been  called 
symbols  of  the  Moon  in  the  land  of  the 
Sun,  since  nothing  in  Inca  days  could  dissociate 
itself  from  either;  a  crescent  Moon  humbled 
by  the  Sun's  anger,  allowed  to  possess  her 
former  fullness  but  a  day  at  a  time,  doomed  to 
be  obliterated  over  and  over  again. 

The  worth  of  anything  consists  in  the  fact 
that  through  it  can  be  seen  something  more 
beautiful  than  itself,  something  to  which  it 
forms  the  setting.  Words  are  mere  points  of 
departure.  What  limitless  excursions  can  even 
one  word  suggest,  into  countries  more  wonderful 

[34] 


Copyright  by  Uuderwood  i  Underwood.  >>".  Y. 

SACHACHA,  A  TYPICAL  VILLAGE  OF  PERU. 


DESERT   QUALITY 

than  any  created  by  a  remote  if  consummate 
artist!  And  what  an  intimate  happiness  is 
found  there,  which  no  one  else  has  felt  nor  could 
describe  if  he  had! 

Wherever  rivers  descend  from  the  mountains, 
green  garlands  are  slung  across  the  desert.  No 
wonder  the  river  was  a  god  to  the  desert- 
dweller,  bringing  with  it  meadows  and  gardens. 
Where  only  dust  has  been,  acres  of  cotton, 
bright-green  sugar-fields,  and  dark  orchards 
lie  between  mud  walls  and  willow-shaded  lanes. 
Herds  graze  upon  alfalfa  steaming  in  the  sun. 
The  yellow  plaster  terraces  and  balconies  of 
haciendas  among  their  banana  groves  are  shaded 
by  cascades  of  glowing  bougainvillea.  But 
wherever  water  is,  fever  follows.  Disease  clings 
to  the  green  spaces.  Even  sickness  cannot 
abide  in  the  desert  alone. 

Huge,  pyramid-like  mud  structures  spring 
crumbling  from  the  soil  whose  modified  form 
they  seem  to  be,  temples  and  palaces  of  former 
days,  each  with  its  legend.  The  ruins  are  in- 
habited by  weird  iguanas  and  "  haunted  by 
those  birds  of  ill  omen  that  only  nest  in  ruins." 

[35] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Mounds  of  treasure,  too,  linger  along  the  desert, 
and  fragments  of  the  paved  road  of  the  Incas. 

A  gold  bell  was  once  buried  in  Tambo  de 
Mora.  Older  people  have  heard  it  tolling  on 
quiet  nights.  Some  say  it  rings  from  the  top 
of  a  hill,  some,  from  beneath  the  ground.  To 
be  sure,  bells  were  not  known  to  ancient  Peru- 
vians, yet  a  company  was  properly  financed  to 
hunt  for  this  bell  of  gold. 

Submerged  or  enchanted  cities  exist  on  every 
hand.  A  mystic  race  of  dwarfs  live  in  the 
Andes.  They  guard  a  vault  of  buried  treasure. 
An  Indian  who  declared  he  had  seen  it  became 
so  terrified  at  the  extent  of  the  riches  that  he 
fled,  not  forgetting  to  mark  his  path.  Yet 
frequently  as  he  had  followed  the  trail  to  the 
very  spot,  he  could  never  again  find  the  cavern 
of  glittering  jewels:  it  had  sunk  completely  out 
of  sight  —  "  You  can  see  for  yourself,  Senorita, 
that  it  has,  if  I  take  you  there!  " 

Legends  of  prehistoric  days  take  on  the  garb 
of  myth,  when  giants  came  over  the  sea  to  Peru 
long  before  the  memory  of  man.  Wishing  to 
provide  themselves  with  water  in  the  desert, 
they  excavated  enormously  deep  wells,  still 

[36] 


DESERT    QUALITY 

undeniable  evidence  of  their  dominion.  More- 
over, their  bones  of  incredible  size  have  been 
found.  Garcilasso  says  a  piece  of  one  hollow 
tooth  weighs  more  than  half  a  pound.  Their 
footprints  have  been  traced  as  far  as  Patagonia. 
For  their  sin  they  were  destroyed  by  a  rain  of 
fire. 

Maui,  too,  —  the  Polynesian  god  who  caught 
the  sun  with  cords  of  cocoanut  fiber,  who  lifted 
the  sky  and  smoothed  its  arched  surface  with 
his  stone  adze,  who  made  the  earth  habitable 
for  man  and  then  created  him,  and  who  now 
divides  his  time  between  fishing  for  islands  with 
a  hook  which  is  called  the  Plume  of  Beauty, 
and  resting  in  the  form  of  a  small  day-fly  upon 
the  under  side  of  a  flower,  —  Maui,  who  belongs 
to  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Pacific,  once 
visited  Peru. 

Upon  this  coast  lived  aborigines  with  flat 
noses,  fishing  from  boats  of  inflated  sealskins, 
and  sleeping  pell-mell  in  sealskin  huts  on  heaps 
of  seaweed,  "  tall,  cannibalistic  fishermen  .  .  . 
who  used  bone  utensils,  made  primitive  pottery, 
nets,  and  fabrics  of  osier." 

Here  lived  the  contemporaries  of  the  Incas, 
[37] 


PERU,  A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Yuncas  they  were  called,  "  dwellers  in  the  hot 
lowlands,"  distinct  from  those  of  the  highlands, 
with  their  hideous  thoughts  painted  on  earthen- 
ware jars,  and  their  hazy  conception  of  a  single 
god,  their  pragmatic  worship  of  him  by  means 
of  anything  which  he  had  made  for  their  sup- 
port and  comfort,  and  their  sacrifice  to  him 
of  his  greatest  gift,  human  beings. 

Fancy  is  free  to  play  along  geologic  or  human 
history.  Bones  of  mastodons  as  well  as  sea- 
bottom  shells  are  found  in  the  desert.  Van- 
ished races  have  embellished  it  in  passing.  Man 
has  but  added  to  the  mystery  of  nature.  Yet 
after  such  lapses  of  time  the  two  are  mingled 
indistinguishably. 


38] 


CHAPTER  III 

DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

THERE  was  once  a  mine  of  gold  in  Peru. 
Later  it  became  a  copper  mine,  and  now  they 
sell  the  water  that  collects  in  the  bottom. 


The  Incas  found  a  rainless  desert  intersected 
by  fruitful  valleys  as  to-day,  each  independent, 
with  its  own  gods,  its  own  king,  its  own  man- 
ners and  customs,  even  its  own  diseases!  Each 
valley  chieftain  lived  upon  a  platform  among 
the  fields,  but  his  villagers  lived  in  the  desert, 
not  to  encroach  upon  land  capable  of  cultiva- 
tion. These  Yuncas  excelled  in  the  arts  of 
weaving,  fashioning  metals,  and  m  making 
pottery. 

In  the  name  of  the  Sun  the  Incas  descended 
from  regions  of  snow  to  conquer  the  desert- 
dweller,  with  lofty  disregard  of  the  fact  that 

[39] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

the  benign  source  of  all  blessings  among  the 
high  table-lands  was  the  scourge  of  the  lowlands, 
where  water-gods  were  worshipped.  These 
religious  wars  changed  the  face  of  the  country. 
Valleys  were  connected  by  a  great  highway. 
Sun  temples  and  convents  for  the  Virgins  of 
the  Sun  supplanted  the  shrine  of  each  valley's 
chief  god.  Only  one  remained  inviolate  on  the 
whole  coast,  that  of  the  awful,  intangible  Pacha- 
camac,  who,  being  a  fish-god  in  his  great  red 
temple  by  the  sea,  was  not  an  idol,  but  the  In- 
visible, Unknown,  Omnipotent  God,  who  had 
existed  before  either  the  sea  or  the  sun;  Pacha- 
camac,  he  who  formed  the  world  out  of  nothing, 
the  Creator  whose  image  they  dared  not  con- 
ceive. His  name  was  mentioned  with  shrugging 
of  shoulders  and  lifting  up  of  hands,  and  he 
was  served  with  fasting.  Unlike  Sun-ritual, 
his  cult  was  a  personal  one,  the  inner  worship  of 
a  people  who  paid  tribute  to  golden  fishes.  The 
Maker  of  all  Things  had  been  conceived  by 
those  ancient  peoples  who,  Balboa  says,  came 
from  the  north  on  a  fleet  of  rafts,  when  the 
mountains  had  the  climate  of  the  valleys,  and 
the  whole  actual  coast  was  under  the  ocean. 

[40] 


DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

The  aura  of  the  Unknown  God  invested  the 
fish-idol,  and  the  temple  was  held  in  such  awe 
that  it  was  not  only  spared  by  the  Incas,  but 
they  even  made  pilgrimages  to  the  shrine.  Shy 
in  the  thought  of  offending  the  Maker  of  the 
World,  Inca  Yupanqui  allowed  his  golden  sea- 
side temple  to  remain,  but  erected  a  temple  to 
the  Sun  a  little  above  its  level.  To  honor  the 
conqueror,  the  priests  of  Pachacamac  "  ap- 
pointed a  solemn  fishing  of  many  thousand  In- 
dians, who  went  to  sea  in  their  vessels  of  reeds." 

Though  the  fish-idols  were  ejected,  and  a 
convent  for  the  Virgins  of  the  Sun  was  founded, 
worship  of  Pachacamac  went  on  as  before. 
The  Incas  joined  in  it,  identifying  him  with 
Uiracocha  of  the  mountains,  but  they  extorted 
Sun  adoration  as  well,  a  fair  barter  of  faith. 

Then  the  priests  of  the  Sun  made  an  idol  of 
Pachacamac,  and  so  it  presided  until,  drenched 
with  sacrificial  blood,  it  was  chopped  to  pieces 
by  Hernando  Pizarro  and  twenty  soldiers  in 
January,  1533.  A  terrible  earthquake  followed, 
which  Pizarro  called  the  devil's  rage,  and 
triumphant  he  planted  a  cross  above  the 
looted  temple.  Pizarro  gave  the  golden  nails 

[41] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

to  his  pilot,  as  a  reward  for  his  entire  venture. 
But  much  of  the  temple's  treasure  is  said  to  be 
concealed  underground,  undiscovered  to  this  day. 

The  temple  pile  glows  against  the  blue  sea 
in  the  midst  of  shimmering  sand.  Pachacamac 
lies  in  its  magnificent  ruin  surrounded  by  acres 
of  skeletons.  For  more  than  two  thousand 
years  it  was  the  most  famous  burial  place  of 
the  coast.  Even  mummies  were  brought  from 
great  distances  to  lie  in  the  sacred  ground. 

Layers  upon  layers  of  succeeding  generations 
have  all  yielded  their  excavated  secrets,  each 
throwing  light  on  others.  Time  and  treasure- 
seekers  have  laid  bare  the  most  recent.  His- 
tories of  great  peoples  told  by  their  graves! 

I  stood  upon  the  summit  of  the  broad  mound, 
the  temple  to  Inti,  the  Sun,  built  by  the  Incas 
above  that  of  Pachacamac,  the  fish-god.  Its 
crumbling  walls,  with  traces  of  their  brilliant 
coloring,  ended  abruptly  in  mid-air.  The  head- 
less skeletons  of  forty-six  young  girls  had  re- 
cently been  found  upon  the  terrace  where  I 
stood,  the  braided  cords  hanging  loosely  about 
their  skeleton  necks. 

[42] 


DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

Far  below  stretched  the  vast  field  of  the 
dead.  I  looked  out  over  a  desert  of  round 
white  skulls,  with  eye-cavities  staring  at  the 
sun  —  Sun-worship  continued  in  death.  Little 
flurries  of  dust  rose  here  and  there,  as  men 
with  shovels  turned  over  the  sand,  hoping  for 
treasure.  Gallinazos,  hideous  vultures  of  the 
desert,  paced  up  and  down.  Below  the  convent 
of  the  Virgins  of  the  Sun,  whose  niches  only 
remain,  was  a  small  blue  lagoon  under  palm 
trees.  On  its  reed-edges  a  white  heron  tilted 
about  —  a  curious,  gnarled  creature,  giving  an 
impression  of  majestic  grace. 

Between  me  and  the  sand-hills  rolling  up  to 
the  Andes  lay  the  silent  courts,  the  great, 
roofless  houses  of  the  city  of  the  dead  caving 
in  over  its  streets  of  sand.  The  desert-river 
separated  this  sepulchral  spot  from  the  valley 
of  Lurin,  where  cotton-fields  and  yellowish 
expanses  of  sugar-cane  were  divided  by  willow 
hedgerows,  with  glimpses  of  water  beneath 
tall  mud  gateways.  The  breeze  was  as  sweet 
as  heliotrope  hedges  could  make  it  and  filled 
with  tinkling  bird  notes. 

On  the  other  side  was  the  whole  reach  of 
[43] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

the  sparkling  Pacific,  with  its  far-off  sound  of 
breakers.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  two 
rocky  islands  are  a  goddess,  Cavillaca,  who 
cast  herself  and  her  child  into  the  sea  a  thousand 
years  ago.  But  scientists  assure  us  that  the 
islands  were  torn  away  by  an  earthquake  since 
Spanish  occupation.  The  Incas,  they  say,  had 
a  temple  on  the  islands,  then  a  promontory. 

He  has  not  beheld  the  quintessence  of  all 
human  suffering  who  has  not  seen  the  face  of  a 
hunchback  child-mummy.  Upon  such  bodies, 
doubled  up  and  tied  securely  into  the  smallest 
possible  space,  whose  varnished  skin  is  stretched 
over  their  unbending  bones,  even  the  tattoo 
marks  still  show  in  designs  of  their  owners' 
choosing.  They  are  clothed  in  finely-woven 
garments,  with  sandals,  pouches,  shell  and 
bead  ornaments,  embroidered  bands,  and  hair 
not  yet  unbraided.  Sometimes  brilliant  eyes 
stare  from  empty  sockets  in  the  withered 
mummy-faces,  eyes  of  prehistoric  cuttlefish,  a 
symbol  of  fish  worship.  In  some  of  the  skulls 
are  dents  made  by  blunted  points  of  stone 
weapons. 

[44] 


DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

One  mummy  sits  in  the  attitude  of  a  toper 
about  to  drink,  with  a  monkey  on  his  shoulder 
-  for  pets  of  the  dead  man  accompanied  him 
on  his  journey,  his  dog  or  parrot  sometimes 
mummified  at  his  feet.  The  men  have  their 
slings  and  fish  nets,  the  women  their  spindles, 
needles  of  cactus  thorns,  and  every  implement 
of  household  use,  the  children  their  earthen- 
ware dolls.  All  have  their  little  gods  and  talis- 
mans. There  are  pots  of  provisions,  too,  with 
lids  to  keep  out  the  thin  finger  of  time,  jugs 
of  chicha  (a  beverage  distilled  from  maize),  and 
ears  of  corn  in  nets  from  which  they  have 
never  been  removed  since  they  were  put  in  by 
hands  turned  to  dust  a  thousand  years  ago. 

From  the  grave  of  an  apparently  great  offi- 
cial with  his  treasure- jars,  was  taken  only  the 
mummy  of  a  puma,  yellow  feathers  on  its  head, 
a  gold  plate  in  its  mouth,  gold  and  silver  bangles 
on  its  legs.  It  had  a  necklace  of  emeralds 
from  the  north,  and  its  tail  was  full  of  golden 
feathers  from  the  mystic  jungle  beyond  the 
mountains. 

Recently  X-rays  have  been  applied  to 
mummy -bundles,  which  show  other  skeletons 

[45] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

within  as  well  as  the  one  who  had  died,  skeletons 
of  those  who,  when  those  winding-sheets  were 
adjusted,  were  still  alive.  Gruesome  sacrifice! 

Pachacamac  has  furnished  museums  all  over 
the  world  and  is  still  one  of  the  most  inexhaust- 
ible of  mummy  supplies. 

My  horse  descended  carefully  to  this  field  of 
the  dead.  He  picked  his  way  across  stepping- 
stones  on  which  pilgrims  approached  the  lower 
court  of  the  temple  where  their  year  of  penance 
before  entering  was  to  be  spent.  A  step,  and 
there  was  the  sound  of  crunching  human  bones. 
Sand  filled  the  skull  cavities.  They  shattered 
like  fragile  glass  as  the  horse's  hoofs  clattered 
across  them  toward  the  ruined  city.  The  sand 
was  pulverized  bones.  Bits  of  cloth  and  pot- 
tery attracted  the  collector's  eye,  or  a  deformed 
or  trephined  skull. 

The  city  walls  are  twenty  feet  thick.  Their 
ends  and  their  beginnings  are  lost  in  sand. 
Marks  of  fire  show  here  and  there,  and  traces 
of  forgotten  industries.  Flights  of  stairs  lead 
down  from  the  tops  of  walls,  over  which  was 
the  only  entrance.  The  roofs  were  made  of 

[46] 


DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

reeds  to  let  through  necessary  air  and  light; 
none  were  needed  against  rain. 

Swallows,  "  dovelets  of  Santa  Rosa,"  flew  over 
from  the  green  valley  of  Lurin.  Bats  and  little 
owls,  always  in  pairs,  inhabited  the  ruins,  and 
lizards  basked  in  the  blinding  light  and  enjoyed 
the  quiet.  Under  the  cactus  lying  loose  upon 
the  ground  there  is  sometimes  a  small  black 
spider  whose  bite  takes  months  to  cure.  Its 
inhabitants  emphasize  still  further  the  unin- 
habitability  of  this  scorching  desert. 


II 

One-  other  center  of  power  confronted  the 
Incas  in  the  coast  valleys,  the  city  of  Chan- 
chan,  belonging  to  the  Chimus. 

In  the  kingdom  of  the  Grand  Chimu,  Si,  the 
Moon,  was  worshipped.  It  appeared  both  by 
day  and  by  night,  which  the  sun  was  not  able 
to  do.  The  Moon  raised  the  tides;  did  such 
power  not  demand  sacrifice?  On  special  occa- 
sions the  Chimus  offered  to  it  small  children 
wrapped  in  brilliant  cloths. 

The  ocean  was  the  medium  through  which 
[47] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

their  Moon-god  chose  to  demonstrate  its  power. 
As  it  nourished  them  with  its  fish,  scattered  by 
the  fish-god  Pachacamac  through  its  waves, 
they  strewed  white  meal  upon  its  surface  as  a 
form  of  worship;  incidentally  to  attract  a  large 
catch  of  fish.  Ni,  the  Ocean,  symbolized  water, 
the  greatest  need  of  a  desert  land.  It  was  also 
their  only  means  of  communication  between 
the  desert  valleys,  as  they  plied  up  and  down 
upon  the  "  silent  highway  "  to  collect  tribute. 
Their  boats  were  made  of  reeds  tied  together, 
and  they  sat  upon  them  as  on  "  horseback, 
cutting  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  rowing  with 
small  reeds  on  either  side,"  as  Father  Acosta 
explains.  Sometimes  they  had  square  sails  of 
grass.  One  may  see  these  boats  of  bulrushes 
upon  the  shore,  for  they  are  still  in  use,  their 
long,  curved  beaks  leaning  against  each  other 
like  stacks  of  mammoths'  tusks. 

The  water  cult  of  the  Chimu  included  worship 
of  fountains,  flowing  streams,  and  of  their 
goddess,  "  She  of  the  Emerald  Skirts."  The 
worst  criminal  was  a  water  thief,  he  who  turned 
the  stream  aside  from  his  neighbor's  field;  and 
the  Grand  Chimu  was  overcome  at  last  only 

[48] 


DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

because  the  Inca  was  able  to  cut  off  his  water 
supply.  Mild  Tupac  Inca  Yupanqui,  who  ruled 
the  mountains  as  the  Grand  Chirnu  controlled 
the  coast,  preferred  victory  without  bloodshed, 
since  his  were  religious  wars  to  spread  the 
worship  of  the  Sun. 

Sun-worshippers  and  Moon-worshippers,  liv- 
ing side  by  side,  struggled  in  mortal  conflict, 
but  the  Sun- worshippers  prevailed;  and  when, 
after  a  few  generations,  the  Spaniards,  eager 
for  bloodshed,  came  to  conquer  the  Sun- wor- 
shippers in  the  name  of  Christianity,  the  great 
city  of  the  worshippers  of  Moon  and  Sea  was 
gone.  They  could  glut  their  desire  only  on 
hidden  treasure  in  sepulchral  mounds. 

Mochica,  the  language  of  the  Chimus,  was 
so  difficult  that  no  grown  person  could  learn  it. 
Here  and  there  it  was  spoken  as  late  as  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  to-day  near  Eten, 
"  where  the  sun  halted  at  his  rising,"  there  are 
elements  of  it  left  in  a  curious  dialect,  spoken 
by  a  little  community  of  Indians  whom  no  one 
can  understand.  They  braid  Panama  hats  of 
finest  straw.  Their  huts  are  almost  without 
furniture,  they  wear  no  shoes,  and  dress  always 

[49] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

in  mourning;  but  they  wear  flowers  in  their 
hair. 

An  Augustinian  prior,  Calancha,  collected 
traditions  of  Chanchan,  that  great  city  of  the 
Chirnus  which  covered  twenty  square  miles. 
He  tells  of  the  processions  to  the  Moon  temple, 
when  the  Grand  Chimu,  wearing  the  jeweled 
diadem,  in  robes  of  feather-mosaic  as  fine  as 
warp  and  woof,  was  carried  in  his  litter  by 
courtiers,  surrounded  by  musicians,  minstrels, 
priests,  and  warriors  with  lances  and  long 
waving  plumes. 

The  mounds  scattered  in  fragments  through 
the  desert  were  terraced  pyramids  in  those 
days,  the  walls  upholding  them  brilliantly 
painted  and  richly  embossed.  Traces  can  still 
•be  seen  of  their  paintings  of  wild  birds  and 
animals,  and  step-patterns  like  the  pyramids 
themselves.  Vines  of  the  passion-flower  drooped 
their  fruit  over  the  garden  walls  upon  the  ter- 
races, for  water  ran  to  the  very  top.  Even  the 
avenues  of  trees  had  individual  nourishment 
from  the  distant  mountains  through  a  lofty 
aqueduct,  the  most  amazing  accomplishment 
of  an  amazing  people.  In  the  labyrinth  below 

[50] 


DESERT    PERSPECTIVE 

worked  the  designers,  dyers,  potters,  weavers, 
and  the  gold-  and  silver-smiths,  expressing  the 
florid  taste  of  the  Chimus. 

These  sea-worshippers,  fish-worshippers,  made 
fish-gods  of  gold.  In  Chanchan  their  small 
fish-god  has  been  found,  worth  three  million 
dollars.  With  it  were  gold  bowls,  little  figures 
of  fish,  lizards,  serpents,  and  birds,  neck  and 
arm  bands,  scepters  and  diadems,  and  emeralds 
from  the  north.  The  larger  fish-god  is  yet  to 
be  discovered.  Manuscripts  describe  conscien- 
tious attempts  to  unearth  it. 

The  race  has  vanished;  vast  Chanchan  is 
gone.  We  are  not  even  sure  what  this  great 
people  called  themselves.  Their  gold  and  silver 
ornaments  have  long  ago  been  melted  into 
European  coin.  Traditions  of  their  wealth 
and  magnificence  came  only  through  their 
conquerors,  who  themselves  had  no  written 
language.  Were  we  to  believe  only  Inca  tra- 
dition, all  the  Yuncas  of  the  coast  were  sav- 
ages, given  up  to  unnatural  sin.  Fortunately 
there  are  vestiges  of  their  pyramids  and  laby- 
rinthine interiors  of  their  temples  and  palaces, 
bits  of  their  pottery,  and  patterns  of  their 

[51] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

cotton  fabrics.  There  are,  too,  fragments  of 
their  marvelous  irrigation  system,  a  dumb 
reminder  to  Peru  that  present  needs-  were  once 
supplied  by  the  intelligence  and  industry  of  an 
Indian  civilization.  / 

A  bush  with  many-colored  clusters  of  flowers 
joined  together  like  a  bunch  of  grapes  grows 
not  far  from  the  site  of  Chanchan.  It  is  said 
that  each  flower  has  a  different  shape  as  well  as 
a  different  color.  The  name  of  the  bush  is  the 
"  Flower  of  Paradise." 


[52] 


CHAPTER  IV 

PICA,    THE   FLOWER   OF   THE   SAND 

A  TOWERING,  scoop-topped  wagon,  fruit-filled, 
dragged  by  nine  mules,  lurched  through  the 
desert.  Far  in  the  distance,  on  the  first  low 
swelling  of  the  mighty  chain  of  the  Andes,  there 
was  a  faint  dark  line  whence  it  came. 

The  driver  of  the  wagon  handed  me  a  small 
branch  of  a  chirimoya  tree.  The  three  narrow, 
fleshy  lobes  of  the  chirimoya  flower  lie  close 
together  among  the  pale  green  foliage  and  send 
forth  a  perfume  as  poignant,  though  faint,  as 
if  there  were  rain-drops  for  conductors.  The 
aromatic,  gently  acid  flesh  of  its  fruit  lies  in 
rays,  the  exquisite  scent  of  the  flower  tasted 
in  the  fruit.  Warmed  by  the  sun  on  its  journey 
from  the  valley  oasis,  the  whole  freshness  of 
the  desert  was  condensed  in  this  single  flavor, 
like  the  crystallization  of  a  perfect  moment. 
Strange  imaginings  sprang  from  tasting  it. 

A  gallop  across  the  desert  is  a  good  prelude 
[53] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

to  anywhere,  especially  if  one  has  silver  bridle 
and  stirrups  and  a  long  lariat  with  silver  knobs. 
The  muleteers  sat  upon  high  black  saddles  of 
alpaca  hair.  The  colors  of  their  mufflers  must 
have  been  brilliant  underneath  the  dust.  Their 
trappings  were  embroidered  in  red  with  a  red- 
worsted  fringe,  Inca-fashion,  over  the  mules' 
temples.  Our  little  unshod  ponies  picked  their 
way  between  the  stones,  up  hill  and  down,  over 
the  roadless  road  to  Pica. 

The  desert  of  Tarapaca,  now  belonging  to 
Chile,  is  called  the  Plain  of  the  Eagle.  A  fit 
arena  for  gaunt  battles  in  former  days,  a  road 
across  it  is  now  distinguishable  by  the  bones  of 
beasts  of  burden  which  have  dropped  on  their 
way. 

There  are  valleys  of  nitrate  to  explore,  hills 
of  nitrate  to  be  climbed,  plains  of  nitrate  to 
gallop  across,  and  the  only  break  is  one  wind- 
swept tamarugo  tree.  Does  it  exist  upon  the 
morning  mist  which  the  sun  disperses?  Or  does 
its  tough  life  go  on  underground,  like  some  un- 
couth monster  in  the  depth  of  the  sea?  Or 
does  its  tap-root  bore  down  into  a  deeply 
buried  flow  of  water?  Every  one  believes  that 

[54] 


PICA,  THE  FLOWER  OF  THE   SAND 

there  is  a  honeycomb  of  tunnels  from  water- 
giving  strata  in  the  mountain -sides,  far  ante- 
dating the  days  when  Uiracocha  went  to  Tara- 
paca. 

No  convulsion  of  nature  is  unknown  to  this 
pitiless  land.  Volcanic  bombs  lie  about,  and 
fantastic  heaps  of  lava  from  molten  mountains 
mingle  with  corals  from  the  sea-bottom. 
Streams  come  to  the  surface,  ripple  for  a  short 
distance,  and  disappear.  Their  water  tastes 
of  sulphate  of  soda.  Sometimes  it  springs  sud- 
denly from  a  cave,  suggesting  a  system  of  under- 
ground rivers.  Sometimes  it  is  brought  by 
water-works  of  prehistoric  days,  whose  exact 
position 'is  not  known,  making  life  possible  for 
their  would-be  destroyers.  Whether  freaks  of 
nature  or  remnants  of  the  vast  system  of  irri- 
gation, importance  enough  has  been  given  to 
the  underground  waterways  of  Peru  to  bring 
a  scientist  from  the  United  States  to  chart 
them  all. 

Curious  symbols  and  conventionalized  llamas 
are  cut  into  the  hills  of  pink  trachite  and  black 
slate  rock  whose  strata  have  been  jostled  and 
overturned  by  earthquake.  Pictures  of  ser- 

[55] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

pents,  foxes,  and  birds  endure  through  ages  of 
merciless  sun.  Were  they  the  work  of  a  mega- 
lithic  people  of  a  megalithic  age,  when  cyclopean 
stones  were  transported  to  build  cyclopean 
edifices,  and  gigantic  ant-eaters  and  other 
jungle-dwellers  swarmed  in  this  desert  of  Tara- 
paca?  Their  irrefutable  bones  are  found  here, 
but  so  are  shells  of  the  sea-bottom  and  water- 
worn  stones  of  green  jasper  with  red  spots. 
Moreover,  the  nitrate  is  filled  with  the  petrified 
eggs  and  bones,  even  the  feathers  of  sea-birds, 
suggesting  that  the  nitrate  was  originally  guano. 
Why  should  it  not  be  true?  For  this  desert  was 
once  beside  the  sea,  as  it  was  once  beneath  the  sea. 
But  the  law  of  compensation  works  even  here. 
It  has  always  been  common  opinion  that  the 
desert  of  Tarapaca  shelters  fabulous  riches. 
Lured  by  the  glisten  of  a  fallen  meteor,  men 
have  squandered  their  fortunes  and  risked  their 
lives  searching  for  gold,  while  they  trod  the 
nitrate  under  foot. 

The  large  dark  cave  was  gently  steaming. 
The  water  filling  it  gurgled  out  from  sunless 
twilight,  hot  from  the  hold  of  the  earth,  cool  as 

[56] 


PICA,  THE  FLOWER  OF  THE   SAND 

it  spread  over  the  desert  valley  from  the  mouth 
of  the  cave.  A  brown  man  and  his  little  daugh- 
ter, lying  in  it,  were  being  waved  to  and  fro  by 
the  water  as  it  issued,  just  their  heads  visible. 
Saturating  the  bamboo  tangle,  it  left  a  wake  of 
gardens,  orange  and  guava  trees,  citrons,  figs, 
and  slender  paltas,  tall  chirimoyas  and  pacays, 
grown  to  fruit-bearing  size  in  six  months.  Trees 
of  the  jungle  bathing  in  incandescent  desert 
light!  There  were  thick  mimosas,  geranium 
trees,  and  darts  of  poinsettia,  grape-vines  a  foot 
across  at  the  root,  and  spikes  of  heavy-smelling 
tuberoses.  Jasmine  trailed  on  the  trellis  above 
my  head,  and  bougainvillea  made  a  roof  of 
purple  flowers. 

The  slope  of  the  sand-hills  was  crossed  in  the 
foreground  by  shadows  of  orange  groves,  "  in- 
definitely elongated."  Domestic  constellations 
glowed  in  their  black  foliage.  Men  in  ponchos 
whirled  up  on  mule-back,  unbuckled  their  three- 
inch  spurs,  and  flapped  their  saddles  down. 
This  time  the  mirage  was  real. 

Old  Dorothea  came  down  from  her  bright 
green  veranda,  where  the  sunshine  glistened 
from  a  humming-bird's  wings  as  it  hovered 

[57] 


PERU,  A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

above  a  passion  flower,  a  whirl  of  black  fringe 
with  yellow  deeps,  the  favored  blossom  which 
the  Incas  carried  in  their  hands  as  a  sign  of 
greatness.  She  held  a  dove  in  the  crotch  of  her 
arm  and  offered  me  a  bunch  of  narcissus  and 
white  fleurs-de-lis,  unthinkably  sweet.  She 
was  dressed  in  yellow  ocher  and  an  old  straw 
hat  which  she  removed  on  being  introduced  to 
ladies.  Her  little  earless  dancing  dog  did  a 
cueca  (native  dance)  for  us,  while  she  clapped 
queer  aboriginal  time,  and  the  gold  hands 
danced  in  her  ears. 

Birds  sang  in  the  thorn  hedgerows,  and  frogs 
croaked  in  the  warm  pool,  frogs  which  die  in 
cold  water. 

Dorothea  said  that  some  day  the  desert  will 
again  be  covered  with  forests  and  gardens,  as 
it  was  before  it  became  a  desert. 

In  a  cloud  of  dust  made  luminous  by  the 
sun,  a  drove  of  llamas  galloped  down  over  the 
desert  hillside  to  drink,  soft  eyes  wonderingly 
looking  out  from  tall  fuzzy  heads,  legs  bungling 
with  heavy  wool.  An  old  Indian  woman  in 
Panama  hat  and  brilliant  blankets  followed 
slowly,  purring  at  a  pipe. 

[58] 


A  CHARACTERISTIC  PERUVIAN   CHURCH 


itOO 


PICA,  THE  FLOWER  OF  THE   SAND 

This  pool  in  a  shadowed  vale  of  the  western 
Andes,  a  shady,  sweet-smelling  spot,  lost  in  an 
immensity  of  desert,  is  a  little  solitude  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  solitude,  hospitable  by  sweet 

Hrast.  It  takes  very  little  water  to  make  a 
perfect  pool  for  a  tiny  fish,  where  it  will  find  its 
world  and  paradise  all  in  one,  with  never  an 
intimation  of  the  dry  bank. 

A  large  butterfly  poised  gently  on  the  water's 
surface.  It  was  sunset  time,  the  butterflies' 
drinking  hour.  A  copper  bell  tolled  slowly. 
The  reverberation  pierced  far  into  the  silence 
and  was  "  prolonged  by  the  whole  surrounding 
desert."  A  boy  perched  on  an  overhanging 
rock  was  playing  a  flute.  The  frail  sounds 
echoed  through  the  quiet  air,  "  hesitating  within 
a  silence  almost  too  large."  What  can  give 
such  an  impression  of  space  as  a  flute?  Or,  in 
ceasing,  leave  such  utter  stillness?  A  gorgeous 
peacock  preened  itself  against  the  crimson  bou- 
gainvillea  in  the  sunset,  then  folded  its  fan  for 
the  night. 

It  is  curious  how  the  atmosphere  of  a  dream 
cannot  be  conveyed  in  words. 

Sitting  beneath  the  mango  tree  by  a  lily- 
[59] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

edged  brook,  I  watched  the  low  bonfire  roasting 
desert  quail  and  smelled  the  scent  of  heliotrope 
hedges,  while  I  listened  to  an  old  man's  plaintive 
song,  mingling  with  a  quiet  desert  waterfall. 
A  wild  youth  with  a  bullet  gash  across  one 
cheek  told  me  of  reckless  escapades  in  the 
valleys  above.  He  twisted  off  oranges  with  a 
stick  of  bamboo  and  dropped  them  into  my  lap, 
as  the  moon,  poised  on  the  crest  of  the  mauve- 
colored  Andes  like  a  discus  thrown  by  a  mighty 
arm  from  beyond,  disengaged  herself  and  trav- 
eled upward.  Moonlight,  he  said,  is  brighter  in 
the  mountain  denies.  The  moon  sometimes 
drops  a  rainbow  up  there,  a  faint,  round,  dream 
rainbow,  made  of  thin  far-diluted  sunlight. 
Pushed  by  a  little  breeze,  it  divides  the  cloud 
and  disappears. 

He  pointed  out  the  false  Cross  preceding  the 
true  Cross,  preparing  its  way  into  the  sky. 

"  Some  violets  have  got  in  here,"  he  said 
suddenly,  tweaking  one  out  by  the  roots.  In- 
trusive violets! 

A  man  with  spurs  passed  picante  and  young 
kid  and  trays  of  fruit,  their  crevices  filled  with 
flowers. 

[60] 


PICA,  THE  FLOWER  OF  THE   SAND 

Was  not  Amiel  right  when  he  said  that  "  Un 
pay  sage  est  un  ttat  d'&me?  " 

It  was  an  "  ambrosial  night,"  in  a  place  to 
attach  affection,  except  that  affection  is  not  for 
places,  either  actually  or  in  retrospect.  One 
heart-beat  faster,  and  the  nitrate  desert  has 
fairy  illusions.  Why  is  it  that  merely  seeing 
foreign  sights  leaves  only  craving,  while  a  whiff 
of  feeling  in  a  distant,  lonely  spot  fills  one  with 
the  meaning  and  the  mystery  of  everything 
and  brings  tears  to  the  eyes  of  memory?  The 
purple  of  the  bare  mountains  is  significant  in 
the  afterglow.  Dripping  water  is  significant. 
The  moon  sheds  a  different  light.  The  heat  of 
the  desert  sand  just  below  the  surface  becomes 
suggestive.  The  air  is  filled  with  indefinable 
odors  never  perceived  elsewhere,  and  the  sight 
of  a  sand-colored  bird  explains  all  the  secrets  of 
the  universe. 

The  beauty  which  alone  would  have  woven  a 
spell  about  the  place  merely  lapsed  into  a  back- 
ground. In  itself  the  voice  was  not  faultless, 
nor  the  moon  different  from  other  windless, 
immaculate  nights;  but  the  air  was  sweeter, 
and  the  guavas  were  at  the  season's  climax, 

[61] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

their  one  day  of  perfection.  They  tell  you  that 
if  you  eat  guavas  in  Pica,  you  become  either 
ill  or  enchanted;  in  either  case  you  cannot 
leave. 

He  must  have  been  talking  for  a  long  time. 
It  was  as  if  his  voice  had  been  beneath  my  range 
of  sound,  or  too  soft  —  though  I  heard  well 
enough.  All  at  once  I  began  to  understand. 

"  Perhaps  you  have  heard  of  the  bush  which 
grows  in  Patagonia.  It  is  covered  with  pale 
yellow  flowers.  When  a  match  is  placed  be- 
neath it,  the  bush  blazes  forth  and  is  reduced 
to  immediate  ashes,  all  its  strength  exhausted 
in  a  single  dazzling  effort.  It  is  called  escan- 
dalosa. 

11  Had  you  let  me  know  two  weeks  ago  that 
you  would  come,  I  would  have  put  a  bit  of 
nitrate  on  the  roots  of  my  rose-tree,  and  it 
would  have  blossomed  viciously  for  you!  " 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  but  afterwards?  " 

"  Oh,  to  be  sure.    Then  it  would  have  died." 

An  owl  screamed  from  the  top  of  a  ciruela 
tree,  a  little  owl-of-the-desert,  just  a  few  inches 
high. 

Pica,  the  Flower  of  the  Sand!  With  what 
[621 


PICA,  THE  FLOWER  OF  THE   SAND 

golden  words  borrowed  from  Hindoo  poets 
might  not  its  charm  be  told?  By  what  en- 
chantment its  suave  breezes  be  recalled?  Every- 
body knows  it  is  a  magic  spot.  Its  quiet  exist- 
ence is  a  sort  of  self-expression  of  inmost 
thoughts  without  technique. 

Doctor  Stubel,  the  earthquake  specialist,  says 
Pica  is  an  eruption  center. 


[63] 


CHAPTER  V 

A  CLASH   OF   CONTRASTS 


WHILE  the  mysticism  of  the  Middle  Ages  was 
expanding  in  delicate  spires  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, the  Inca's  empire  was  exposing  its 
heart  of  gold  to  the  blaze  of  a  tropical  sun. 
Their  only  similarity  is  that  a  shadowy  veil, 
half  history,  half  legend,  floats  between  us  and 
them  both.  But  the  gold  shines  through,  and 
the  veil  cannot  conceal  its  brilliancy. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  garden  of 
pleasure  where  flowers  of  gold  opened  from 
silver  stalks,  some  full  blown,  others  in  close 
golden  bud.  Upon  the  walls  crept  strange 
insects  and  snails,  so  perfectly  counterfeited  in 
gold  "  that  they  wanted  nothing  but  motion." 
Even  the  trees  and  the  paths  were  of  gold. 
Birds  of  gold  perched  upon  golden  boughs,  their 

[641 


A    CLASH    OF    CONTRASTS 

heads  thrown  back  in  silent  song,  and  upon 
silver  leaves  gold  butterflies  poised  in  the  sun- 
light upon  their  little  golden  feet.  Humming- 
birds of  gold  sipped  imaginary  honey  from  long, 
golden  flower-bells.  The  old  chronicler,  Cieza 
de  Leon,  says  that  one  garden  "  was  artificially 
sown  with  golden  maize,  the  stalks,  as  well  as 
the  leaves  and  cobs  being  of  that  metal;  .  .  . 
they  were  so  well  planted  that  even  in  a  high 
wind  they  were  not  torn  up;  and  besides  all 
this  they  had  more  than  twenty  golden  sheep 
with  their  lambs,  and  the  shepherds  with  their 
slings  and  hooks  to  watch  them,  all  made  of  the 
same  metal."  Near  by  were  vast  heaps  of  gold 
and  silver,  waiting  to  be  wrought  into  wonder- 
ful shapes. 

The  Inca  ate  within  gold-lined  walls,  sitting 
"  commonly  on  a  stool  of  massive  gold  set  on  a 
large,  square  plate  of  gold  which  served  for  a 
pedestal."  He  ate  from  gold  dishes  rare  viands 
from  distant  provinces,  prepared  in  gold  pots 
and  kettles  in  a  kitchen  supplied  with  piles  of 
golden  fagots!  He  bathed  in  cisterns  of  gold 
in  water  conducted  through  golden  pipes  from 
distant  springs.  Francisco  Lopez  says:  "  Nay, 

[65] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

there  was  nothing  in  all  that  empire  (the  most 
flourishing  of  the  whole  world)  whereof  there 
was  not  a  counterfeit  in  pure  gold." 

As  hunger  could  not  be  satisfied  with  gold, 
it  was  valued  only  for  its  shining  beauty,  es- 
teemed by  the  Incas'  subjects  only  as  a  symbol 
of  the  Sun,  those  "  tears  which  the  Sun  has 
wept."  They  naturally  belonged  to  him.  His 
worshippers  even  cast  them  into  lakes,  mirrors 
in  which  he  looks  upon  his  own  reflected  glory, 
and  "  sinks  at  last  still  gazing  on  it." 

The  greatest  of  all  Sun-Temples  was  Cori- 
cancha  —  the  Ingot  of  Gold  —  where  every 
implement  in  use,  even  to  spades  and  rakes  of 
the  garden,  was  made  of  gold. 

Huayna  Ccapac  had  learned  from  the  god 
Uiracocha  that  a  superior  people  would  con- 
quer the  Incas  and  introduce  a  new  religion. 
They  would  come  after  the  reign  of  twelve 
kings;  and  "  In  me,"  he  said,  "  the  number  of 
twelve  kings  is  completed." 

Oracles  had  predicted  their  coming.  And 
what  was  more  significant,  the  great  oracle  of 
Rimac,  "  nothwithstanding  its  former  readiness 
of  speech,  was  become  silent!  "  Omens  had 

[66] 


A    CLASH    OF    CONTRASTS 

foreshadowed  them.  A  brilliant  comet  "  struck 
Atahualpa  with  such  a  dump  of  melancholy  in 
his  spirits  that  he  remained  almost  insensible." 
A  royal  eagle  pursued  by  hawks  fell  into  the 
market-place  of  Cuzco  and  died.  Great  earth- 
quakes shattered  the  shore,  and  tides  did  not 
keep  their  usual  course.  A  thunderbolt  fell  in 
the  Inca's  own  palace.  Strange  apparitions 
faltered  in  the  air,  terrible  to  behold.  The 
Moon,  mother  of  Incas,  had  three  halos;  the 
first  blood-red,  the  second  blackish,  inclining  to 
green,  the  third  like  mist  or  smoke. 

Atahualpa's  atrocities  had  come  to  pass. 
For  the  first  time  civil  war  had  decimated  the 
empire  of  the  Lover  of  the  Poor,  the  Deliverer 
of  the  Oppressed.  Such  conduct  had  earned  its 
reward.  Was  it  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
dawn-heroes  of  fair  complexion,  absent  for  a 
season,  should  reappear?  Their  vengeance  was 
commissioned  by  the  Light-god. 

What  greater  dramatic  climax  ever  focused? 
What  authority  was  ever  more  solidly  founded? 
What  identity  of  hero-gods  more  tangibly 
proven?  A  first  appearance  which  further  facts 
continued  to  corroborate. 

[67] 


PERU,  A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 


II 


Lured  by  rumors  of  a  descendant  of  the  Sun 
in  a  city  of  gold,  the  first  lean,  poor  adventurer, 
worn  with  uncertainty  and  suffering,  stepped 
upon  the  shore  of  Peru.  Pedro  de  Candia  was 
his  name,  who,  having  burned  ten  cities,  had 
dedicated  in  expiation  ten  lamps  to  the  Virgin. 
His  "  coat  of  mail  reached  to  his  knees,  his 
helmet  of  the  best  and  bravest  sort,  his  sword 
girt  by  his  side.  He  took  a  target  of  steel  in 
his  left  hand,  and  in  his  right  a  wooden  cross  a 
yard  and  a  half  long,"  advancing  toward  the 
Indians.  Two  fierce  jaguars,  "  beholding  the 
cross,"  fawned  upon  him  and  cast  themselves 
at  his  feet.  Taking  •  courage  at  the  sight,  he 
laid  it  upon  their  backs  and  dared  to  stroke 
their  heads.  By  virtue  of  that  symbol  a  miracle 
had  happened.  Pedro  de  Candia  and  the  In- 
dians were  equally  dumbfounded. 

They  followed  him  to  the  temples  and  palaces 
furnished  and  plated  with  gold  and  silver,  all 
awed  to  silence,  he  at  such  magnificence  in  an 
undiscovered  country,  they  at  the  sight  of  the 

[68] 


A    CLASH    OF    CONTRASTS 

tall,  fair  man,  whose  long  beard  hung  down 
over  his  iron  dress;  all  were  convinced  by  this 
first  encounter,  the  Indians  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Spaniards,  the  Spaniards  of  God's  patronage. 
"  Being  abundantly  satisfied  with  what  he  had 
seen,  he  returned  with  all  joy  imaginable  to  his 
companions,  taking  much  larger  steps  back 
than  his  gravity  allowed  him  in  his  march 
toward  the  people." 

Eye-witnesses  have  described  the  Spaniards' 
first  glimpse  of  Atahualpa,  the  red  fringe  shining 
on  his  forehead,  when  Hernando  de  Soto,  the 
most  daring  of  all  Pizarro's  followers,  caracoled 
upon  his  miraculous  beast  into  the  very  lap  of 
the  dignified  monarch.  They  feasted  and  drank 
chicha  from  goblets  of  gold  which  young  girls 
presented  to  them,  sitting  upon  seats  of  gold 
like  the  emperor's  own.  Two  historians  were 
present  "  who  with  their  quipus  (knots)  made 
certain  ciphers  describing  ...  all  the  passages 
of  that  audience." 

In  Cajamarca,  the  Country  of  Frost,  Ata- 
hualpa returned  the  visit.  He  came  in  full 
regalia,  facing  the  pomp  of  a  gorgeous  sunset, 
and  the  Spaniards,  "  brandishing  their  pen- 

[69] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

nants  toward  the  flaring  west,  saluted  with  a 
great  shout  the  Setting  of  the  Sun!  " 

First  came  multitudes  of  people  clearing  the 
way  of  stones  and  sweeping  the  road,  then 
singers  and  dancers  in  three  divisions,  many 
richly  dressed  courtiers,  and  the  guards,  divided 
into  four  squadrons  of  eight  thousand  men,  one 
before,  one  on  each  side  of  the  Inca,  and  one  in 
the  rear.  High  on  the  shoulders  of  distin- 
guished chiefs  he  rode  upon  a  golden  litter  lined 
with  brilliant  feathers.  His  proud  head,  too 
large  for  his  body,  was  encircled  by  the  red 
fringe  hanging  above  his  wild  and  bloodshot 
eyes.  Atahualpa,  that  courageous  fiend  who 
bragged  that  no  bird  flew  in  the  air,  no  leaf 
fluttered  on  a  tree  without  his  permission,  who 
though  ransomed  with  a  roomful  of  gold  was 
taken  prisoner  in  the  midst  of  his  own  army  by 
a  handful  of  insolent  adventurers,  baptized  in 
the  Christian  faith  "  Don  Juan,"  bound  to  a 
post,  and  throttled  like  a  common  criminal! 
Pizarro  put  himself  into  mourning. 

The  legend  which  had  lured  the  Spaniards 
was  proven  true:  that  the  land  of  a  powerful 
king  lay  toward  the  south,  where  immeasurable 

[70] 


A    CLASH    OF    CONTRASTS 

treasure  was  amassed.  It  took  a  month  to  melt 
up  the  gold  plaques  and  plates,  brackets  and 
moldings,  statues  of  men,  animals  and  plants, 
drinking  and  eating  utensils,  jars  and  jewelry 
of  all  sorts  that  filled  Atahualpa's  room  of  ran- 
som. 

A  huge  quantity  of  gold,  carried  by  eleven 
thousand  llamas  and  intended  for  the  ransom, 
never  arrived.  It  is  said  to  lie  buried  near 
Jauja,  and  is  only  one  of  the  countless  masses 
of  hidden  treasure,  both  along  the  coast  and  in 
the  mountains,  even  into  Ecuador.  The  Span- 
ish messengers  who  were  carried  in  hammocks 
to  inspect  that  caravan  on  its  journey  toward 
Cajamarca  were  almost  blinded  by  a  mountain 
seeming  to  shine  from  base  to  crest  with  gold. 
The  eleven  thousand  llamas  had  laid  themselves 
down  to  rest. 


in 

So  they  had  come  at  last,  the  very  image  of 
the  god  himself,  strange  little  Uiracochas  in 
beards  and  ruffs;  worthy  of  worship  indeed, 
for  they  let  loose  thunder  and  lightning,  the 

[71] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF   CONTRASTS 

proper  arms  of  the  Sun,  from  instruments  held 
in  their  hands,  and  rode  about  on  amazing 
beasts.  (The  Indians'  fear  of  horses  persisting 
to  this  day,  they  are  used  only  as  infantry.) 
Were  the  Uiracochas  insensible  of  hunger  and 
thirst ;  did  they  need  sleep  after  toil  and  repose 
after  labor?  Were  they  made  of  flesh  and 
bones,  or  had  they  incorruptible  bodies  like 
those  of  the  Sun  and  the  Moon? 

So  the  grisly  conquerors  came,  half  heroes, 
half  wild  beasts,  who  did  not  grow  exhausted 
by  fighting,  nor  discouraged  by  wounds  and  the 
horrors  of  mountain-sickness. 

So  they  came,  these  few  poor  adventurers  who 
fell  upon  a  roomful  of  gold  given  them  by  a  peo- 
ple in  ransom  for  the  sovereign-deity  whom  this 
handful  of  men  had  imprisoned.  Miracles  in 
their  favor  seemed  to  spring  up  at  each  step; 
and  madly  stimulated,  the  peaks  of  the  cor- 
dillera  blazing  above  them,  their  imaginations 
limitless,  they  strode  through  the  empire  in 
the  guise  of  gods  and  scraped  the  sacred  gold 
from  the  City  of  the  Sun.  They  ripped  the 
plate  from  the  walls  of  its  temples.  They 
destroyed  the  idols.  It  is  said  that  the  Jesuits 

[72] 


r 


;TIMLS:. 


-HE. 


L 


JU 


WOLFENBUTTEL- SPANISH  MAP,  CIRCA   1529. 
Courtesy  of  Dr.  E.  L.  Stevenson. 


One  of  the  first  maps  to  show  Pizarro's  discoveries  along  the  Peruvian  coast. 


A    CLASH    OF    CONTRASTS 

had  to  employ  thirty  persons  for  three  days  to 
break  up  a  single  carved  stone  huaco  (idol). 
They  dug  up  the  treasures  buried  with  the  dead 
and  pillaged  the  towns,  and  they  brought  back 
to  greedy  European  sovereigns  news  of  a  land 
of  gold.  Having,  as  it  seemed  to  them,  found 
infinitely,  they  hoped  infinitely  and  infinitely 
dared. 

The  glittering  career  of  the  Indies  had  begun. 
No  empire  was  ever  won  in  so  grandiose  a  way; 
no  empire  ever  so  monstrously  destroyed. 


IV 

Picturesque  are  the  figures  of  the  two  great 
conquerors,  Francisco  Pizarro  and  Diego  de 
Almagro,  lean  and  tireless  soldiers,  "  either  of 
whom,  single,  could  break  through  a  body  of  a 
hundred  Indians,"  who  amassed  a  fortune,  the 
greatest  that  had  been  known  in  many  ages, 
wasted  it  in  wars  with  each  other,  and  died  so 
poor  that  they  were  "  buried  of  mere  charity." 

They  dressed  in  the  costume  of  their  youth. 
The  marquis  "  never  wore  other  than  a  jerkin 
of  black  cloth  with  skirts  down  to  his  ankles, 

[73] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

with  a  short  waist  a  little  below  his  breast.  His 
shoes  were  made  of  a  white  cordivant,  his  hat 
white,  with  sword  and  dagger  after  the  old 
fashion.  Sometimes  upon  high  days,  at  the 
instance  and  request  of  his  servants,  he  wore  a 
cassock  lined  with  martins'  furs  which  had  been 
sent  him  from  Spain,"  but  his  coat  of  mail  was 
underneath,  as  appropriate  to  his  body  as  its 
steely  sheath  to  his  heart.  Illiterate,  greedy, 
fearless,  and  proud,  wading  through  blood  to 
establish  the  Christian  faith,  he  was  murdered 
at  last;  and  as  he  fell,  traced  in  his  own  blood 
a  cross  upon  the  stone  floor,  kissed  it,  and  died. 
Then  there  was  the  able  monster,  Carvajal, 
who  went  about  accompanied  by  three  or  four 
negroes  to  strangle  people.  He  jeered  as  they 
did  so,  "  showing  himself  very  pleasant  and 
facetious  at  that  unseasonable  time."  He  left 
behind  him  a  wake  of  spiked  heads  of  "  trai- 
tors "  to  the  king.  He  wore  a  Moorish  burnous 
and  hens'  feathers  twined  together  in  the  form 
of  a  cross  on  his  hat,  bought  masses  with  emer- 
alds for  his  soul's  repose,  and  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  went  to  his  execution  in  a  basket, 
saying  his  prayers  in  Latin.  "  Being  come  to 

[74] 


A    CLASH    OF    CONTRASTS 

the  place  of  execution,  the  people  crowded  so 
to  see  him  that  the  hangman  had  not  room  to 
do  his  duty.  And  thereupon  he  called  to  them 
and  said:  '  Gentlemen,  pray  give  the  officer 
room  to  do  justice.'  " 


[75] 


CHAPTER  VI 

PIRATES   AND   TREASURE   FLEETS 

"  GOLD,"  said  Columbus,  "  constitutes  treas- 
ure, and  he  who  possesses  it  has  all  he  needs 
in  this  world,  as  also  the  means  of  rescuing  souls 
from  purgatory  and  restoring  them  to  the 
enjoyment  of  paradise."  Raleigh  remarked 
that:  "  Where  there  is  store  of  gold,  it  is  need- 
less to  remember  other  commodities  for  trade." 

Gold  —  the  evil  spell  overshadowing  Peru, 
pouring  out  her  immeasurable  riches  to  im- 
poverish Spain.  Gold  —  the  most  incorruptible 
of  all  metals,  itself  the  cause  of  most  corruption ! 

Peru  has  always  been  cursed  by  wealth. 
The  gold  of  the  Incas  was  the  cause  of  their 
destruction,  the  wealth  of  the  Spanish  con- 
querors, theirs;  it  brought  about  wars  among 
themselves  and  ravages  of  foreign  pirates  upon 
the  sea.  When  the  era  of  precious  metals 
seemed  to  wane,  islands  of  guano  were  discov- 

[76] 


PIRATES    AND    TREASURE    FLEETS 

ered,  apparently  an  endless  source  of  wealth. 
But  it  was  greedily  exhausted  by  foreigners. 
Then  came  the  discovery  of  nitrate  fields, 
where  fortunes  are  merely  scraped  off  the  top 
of  the  ground.  But  that  particular  territory 
has  been  annexed  by  a  prosperous  neighbor. 

One  wonders  what  undiscovered  wealth  may 
still  be  threatening  this  lavish  country. 

The  days  when  fleets  of  treasure  sailed  from 
the  distant  Cordilleras  of  the  Spanish  Main  had 
begun.  The  tall,  enchanted  galleons  of  Lima 
spread  sail,  with  their 

"  Escutcheoned  pavisades,  emblazoned  poops, 
Banners  and  painted  shields  and  close-fights  hung 
With  scarlet  broideries.    Every  polished  gun 
Grinned  through  the  jaws  of  some  heraldic  beast, 
Gilded  and  carven  and  gleaming  with  all  hues." 

At  first  the  argosies  bore  off  the  ransom  of 
Atahualpa,  the  golden  ornaments  belonging  to 
the  Sun. 

Albrecht  Diirer,  in  his  Tagebuch,  wrote  of 
having  seen  a  boatload  of  such  booty  from  the 
Indies.  "  And,  moreover,  have  I  seen  the 
things  which  were  brought  from  the  new  golden 
land  to  the  king  —  an  entire  sun  of  gold,  a  full 

[77] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

fathom  wide,  likewise  a  silver  moon  of  the 
same  size,  also  two  rooms  full  of  armor,  all 
manner  of  weapons,  harness,  war-trappings,  and 
strange  accoutrements,  curious  raiment,  bed- 
draperies  and  many  kinds  of  wondrous  things 
for  divers  uses,  fairer  to  behold  than  marvels. 
They  are  all  so  precious  that  they  are  held  to 
be  worth  a  hundred  thousand  gulden. 

"  Nor  have  I  in  all  the  days  of  my  life  seen 
aught  that  did  so  fill  me  with  delight.  For  I 
saw  there  fine-wrought  things  of  cunning  design, 
and  marveled  at  the  subtle  skill  of  men  in  far 
countries.  Nor  know  I  how  to  tell  of  all  the 
things  which  I  saw  there." 

Loot  of  golden  treasure  gave  way  to  moun- 
tains of  silver,  which  poured  forth  their  wealth 
in  such  profusion  that  it  staggers  even  oriental 
imagination.  Loading  at  Arica,  ships  brought 
silver  direct  from  the  mines  of  Potosi.  Then 
there  was  plunder  of  Peruvian  churches,  jew- 
eled chalices,  and  gold  shrines.  There  were 
emeralds  from  the  north  —  a  land  where  they 
were  sacred,  small  emeralds  being  sacrificed  to 
larger  ones. 

These  glittering  cargoes  were  carried  home  to 
[78] 


PIRATES    AND    TREASURE    FLEETS 

Seville,  the  "  Queen  of  the  Ocean."  Its  won- 
derful Casa  de  Contratacion  dealt  with  the 
wealth  of  the  Indies  and,  to  quote  Alonzo 
Morgado,  "  the  riches  which  flowed  into  its 
offices  would  have  been  sufficient  to  pave  the 
streets  of  Seville  with  gold  and  silver  slabs." 

Like  most  stories  of  Peru,  the  gold  and  silver 
it  exported  seem  mere  extravanganza.  Con- 
temporary accounts,  mostly  in  cipher,  may  be 
quoted. 

In  1538,  G.  Loveday  wrote  to  Lord  Lisle: 
"  Spanish  ships  have  returned  from  Peru  so 
laden  that  the  emperor's  part  amounts  to  two 
million  ducats.  .  .  .  The  emperor  has  bor- 
rowed the  whole  from  the  owners."  Being 
"  occasionally  pinched  for  money,"  he  found  it 
most  convenient  to  seize  the  ships  laden  with 
private  treasure  from  his  "  Indyac  of  Perrow." 

In  July,  1555,  the  Venetian  ambassador  in 
England  wrote  to  the  Doge  and  Senate  of  a 
fleet  of  caravels,  "  all  very  richly  freighted  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  parlance  of  these  Span- 
iards, who  invariably  reckon  by  millions." 

Federico  Badoer  Venetian  ambassador  with 
the  emperor,  wrote  (1556)  that  the  king  would 

[79] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

obtain  so  considerable  a  stun  of  money  that  he 
would  be  able  to  defend  himself  not  only  against 
the  Pope  but  also  against  France  and  any 
other  power,  if  necessary.  By  this  time  Peru 
was  raining  gold  and  silver. 

Father  Acosta  returned  to  Spain  with  the 
fleet  of  1587.  In  his  boat  were  twelve  chests 
of  gold,  each  weighing  a  hundred  pounds; 
eleven  million  pieces  of  silver,  and  two  chests 
of  emeralds,  each  weighing  one  hundred  pounds. 
"  The  reason  why  there  is  so  great  an  abun- 
dance of  metals  at  the  Indies,"  he  wrote,  "  is 
the  will  of  the  Creator,  who  hath  imparted  His 
gifts  as  it  pleased  Him." 

Von  Tschudi  says  that  in  the  first  twenty -five 
years  the  Spaniards  got  four  hundred  millions 
of  ducats  of  gold  and  silver,  which  was,  how- 
ever, only  a  small  part  of  the  vast  amount 
buried  or  thrown  into  the  mountain  lakes  whose 
deep  waters  concealed  it  in  underground  caves. 
"  The  Indians,  taking  a  handful  of  grain  from 
a  whole  measure,  said :  '  Thus  much  the  Chris- 
tians have  gained  and  the  remainder  is  lodged 
where  neither  we  nor  any  one  else  is  able  to 
assign.'  " 

[80] 


PIRATES    AND    TREASURE    FLEETS 

Humboldt  says  that  from  the  discovery  of 
Peru  until  1800,  the  Old  World  received  £516,- 
471,344  worth  of  treasure  from  the  New  World. 
No  wonder  Europe  felt  that  gold  lay  about  in 
this  land  of  gold,  and  that  it  was  only  neces- 
sary to  go  and  pick  it  up.  No  wonder  Europe 
still  has  an  idea  of  America  little  changed 
through  four  hundred  years.  And  yet  only 
one  fifth  of  the  treasure  of  mines  and  grave- 
mounds  was  supposed  to  be  sent  to  Spain, 
whose  galleons  came  to  the  far-away  West 
Indies  to  receive  it. 

It  was  not  long  before  pirates  descended  upon 
Peru.  Brittany  was  the  first  to  fit  out  fleets 
for  the  Indies  "  on  pretense  of  carrying  mer- 
chandise thither,"  in  fact,  to  molest  vessels 
coming  from  Peru. 

Next,  English  buccaneers  intercepted  the 
Spanish  vessels,  slow-sailing  under  weight  of 
gold. 

"  With  the  fruit  of  Aladdin's  garden  clustering  thick  in  her 

hold, 
With  rubies  a-wash  in  her  scuppers,  and  her  bilge  a-blaze 

with  gold, 

A  world  in  arms  behind  her  to  sever  her  heart  from  home, 
The  Golden  Hynde  drove  onward,  over  the  glittering  foam." 

[81] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Sir  Francis  Drake,  with  sixty  armed  ships, 
looted  the  Pacific  in  the  Golden  Hynde.  His 
ballast  was  silver,  his  cargo  gold  and  emeralds. 
He  dined  alone  with  music. 

In  1578  he  took  from  the  Spanish  galleon 
Cacafuego  "  twenty  tons  of  silver  bullion,  thir- 
teen chests  of  silver  coins,  a  hundred- weight  of 
gold,  gold  nuggets  in  indefinite  quantity,  a 
great  store  of  pearls,  emeralds,  and  diamonds, 
.  .  .  and  many,  many  other  things."  Only 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  Drake  knew  the  exact 
amount  that  was  taken. 

For  three  centuries  pirates  and  freebooters 
harried  the  treasure-fleets  of  Spain.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  English 
Calendar  of  State  Papers  compassionately  re- 
marks that  foreign  gluttony  "  keeps  the  poor 
Spaniards  in  arms  all  along  the  coast  of  Peru 
and  puts  them  into  strange  apprehension,  all 
mankind  seeming  to  conspire  the  murdering 
and  destroying  them  as  common  enemies,  not 
because  they  do  worse,  but  have  more  than 
ordinary." 

Much  of  the  twice-looted  treasure  never 
reached  Europe,  for,  following  the  example  of 

[82] 


PIRATES    AXD    TREASURE    FLEETS 

the  Indians,  the  sea-rovers  buried  large  amounts 
of  gorgeous  plunder  in  the  mysterious  islands 
of  the  Pacific.  Even  to  this  day,  syndicates 
with  steam-dredges  and  suction-pumps  are  fol- 
lowing up  the  faded  charts  on  which  are  in- 
dicated the  spots  where  piles  of  doubloons  and 
ducats  and  pieces-of -eight  are  stowed  away. 


[83] 


CHAPTER  VII 

BACKGROUNDS 


HERE  lay  Lima  under  a  tropical  sun,  spark- 
ling with  treasure,  a  wilderness  of  rich  carv- 
ings and  paintings,  whose  piles  of  gold  and 
silver  shone  through  the  thick  perfume  of 
exotic  blossoms.  Long  caravans,  loaded  with 
the  wealth  of  the  provinces  as  well  as  the  prod- 
uce of  sales  in  the  remote  interior,  filed  into 
Lima,  where  countless  gold-  and  silver-smiths 
were  awaiting  their  arrival.  Weavers  of  silks, 
velvets,  and  brocades,  embroiderers,  leather 
and  metal  workers,  sculptors,  artists,  makers  of 
glass  and  porcelain  bells  —  all  the  most  skilled 
workmen  flocked  to  the  capital  of  New  Anda- 
lusia, the  continent's  center,  for  there  they 
found  no  lack  of  rich  materials.  Their  fancy 
might  fashion  uncontrolled,  with  assurance  of 
eager  purchasers. 

[84] 


BACKGROUNDS 

In  Lima  voyages  of  discovery  to  the  Isles  of 
Solomon  were  planned.  From  Lima  pilgrim- 
ages were  made  in  search  of  El  Dorado,  that 
luxurious  ruler  who  bathed  himself  in  sweet- 
smelling  gums  and  then  rolled  in  gold  dust. 
There  is  no  more  romantic  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  Peru  than  these  pilgrimages  in  search 
of  El  Dorado.  Southey  says  they  cost  Spain 
more  than  all  the  treasure  received  from  her 
South  American  possessions. 

In  Lima  lived  the  viceroys  who  ruled  all  of 
South  America  from  Guayaquil  to  Buenos  Aires, 
"  as  by  the  divine  right  of  kings."  The  viceroy 
was  served  only  by  titled  Spaniards.  He  was 
drawn  about  by  six  horses,  with  sounding  of 
trumpets,  and  a  personal  guard  of  two  hundred 
Spaniards,  "  for  the  safety  of  his  person  and  to 
support  the  dignity  of  his  office."  The  royal 
seal,  his  insignia,  rode  under  a  royal  flag  upon 
a  horse  saddled  with  black  velvet  and  a  gold 
tissue  foot-cloth,  and  was  received  with  deep 
bows.  The  viceroy  was  allowed  three  thousand 
pesos  to  go  to  Callao,  five  miles  away,  and  sixty 
thousand  ducats  a  year  for  personal  expenses. 

Greeted  with  a  jewel  sent  to  meet  him  half- 
[85] 


way,  the  viceroy  reaches  the  bay  of  Callao. 
Throughout  Lima,  the  City  of  the  Kings,  — 
founded  "  with  God,  for  God,  and  in  His  name," 
—  the  streets  are  hung  with  rugs  and  tapestry 
and  adorned  with  green  boughs  and  triumphal 
arches.  (On  the  arrival  of  the  Duque  de  la 
Plata,  in  1682,  eighty  million  piasters  were 
spent  to  pave  the  streets  with  bars  of  silver.) 

"  First  comes  a  host  of  Indian  warriors  in 
feather  pomp.  The  city  militia  with  pikes  and 
weapons  glittering,  the  stocks  of  their  guns 
embossed  with  gold,  the  noble  guard  on  horse- 
back, .  .  .  university  professors  in  brilliant 
gowns,  the  royal  council  and  officials,  the  mag- 
istracy in  crimson  velvet  lined  with  brocade  of 
the  same  color  .  .  .  the  chamber  of  accounts, 
the  audience  on  horses  with  trappings,  the 
scepter-carrier,  heralds  in  armor  with  un- 
covered heads,  the  master  of  the  horse  with 
drawn  sword,  accompanied  by  four  servants  in 
livery,  pages  with  the  captain  of  the  watch,  and 
lastly,  on  a  throne  of  red  velvet  whose  silver 
staffs  are  carried  by  the  members  of  the  corpo- 
ration, while  the  alcaldes  hold  the  cords,  all  in 
velvet  caps  and  gowns  of  incarnation  color,  rides 

[861 


BACKGROUNDS 

the  viceroy  under  the  royal  banner  and  a  canopy 
of  cloth  of  gold.  Officers  of  the  royal  house- 
hold, the  royal  guard  in  full  armor  with  spear 
and  shield,  bring  up  the  rear  on  horseback." 

The  procession  moves  between  companies 
of  halberdiers  in  a  blaze  of  trumpets,  bells, 
and  drums,  under  showers  of  flowers  thrown 
from  carved  balconies. 

"  When  they  reach  the  plaza  the  whole  com- 
pany faces  the  cathedral  and  is  received  by  the 
archbishop  and  by  the  superiors  of  the  religious 
orders;  trumpets  cease,  knights  dismount,  and 
the  multitude  sings  a  Te  Deum. 

"  The  procession  again  mounts  and  accom- 
panies the  viceroy  to  the  palace  gates." 

"  Five  days  of  bull-fights  follow,  and  prizes 
are  bestowed  upon  those  who  make  the  most 
ingenious  compositions  in  praise  of  the  viceroy. 
The  rector  of  the  university  prepares  a  poetical 
contest,  at  which  the  viceroy  presides,  seated 
upon  the  rectoral  chair,  which  for  this  occasion 
glitters  with  the  magnificence  of  an  Eastern 
throne.  The  nunneries  entertain  him  with 
music  and  present  him  with  curiosities." 

The  churches  of  Lima  were  hung  with  velvet 
187] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

and  tapestry,  with  fringes  of  gold  and  silver 
and  plates  of  gold  hung  in  design,  so  that  the 
walls  were  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Spanish  and 
Flemish  paintings  surrounded  altars  of  wrought 
silver.  The  sacred  vessels  were  of  gold,  covered 
with  pearls  and  precious  stones.  Santo  Do- 
mingo, the  oldest  of  the  brotherhood,  possessed 
a  set  of  thirty  candelabra  of  massive  silver, 
man-high,  placed  in  a  double  row  along  the 
nave  of  the  church.  The  cloister  contained  a 
famous  orange  garden  with  wrought-iron  water- 
ways and  life-sized  paintings  of  Dominicus. 
In  its  center  was  a  fountain,  whose  delicious 
drip  belied  its  hidden  presence  under  feathery 
vines.  Indeed,  why  should  the  church  not 
claim  vast  riches?  One  sixth  of  the  population 
was  in  the  monasteries,  and  those  who  were 
not  of  the  number  bought  the  dress  of  a  re- 
ligious order  in  which  to  be  buried.  The  whole 
city  took  part  in  the  sacred  feast  days,  as  many 
in  the  procession  as  looking  on:  legions  of 
monks  and  thousands  of  nuns,  priests,  orders, 
religious  societies,  and  brotherhoods  with  their 
standards,  holy  pictures,  silver  crosses,  scepters, 
and  biers. 

[88] 


BACKGROUNDS 


II 


But  what  was  happening  to  the  silent  people 
among  the  mountain-tops  who  had  stripped  the 
Sun  Temples  of  their  offerings  to  enrich  the 
adventurers  from  the  Isles  of  Pearls? 

Their  irrigating  canals  had  been  destroyed, 
the  roads  and  the  whole  system  of  government 
broken  up,  the  people  killed  in  chronic  fighting 
or  by  hardship  in  distant  campaigns.  Ten 
thousand  of  the  fifteen  thousand  in  Almagro's 
Chilean  army  had  died  of  cold  in  the  moun- 
tains, or  of  heat  and  thirst  in  the  desert.  The 
people  were  starved,  villages  at  a  time,  by  the 
destruction  of  their  crops.  Moreover,  the  vil- 
lages were  given  as  fiefs  to  the  Spaniards,  who 
received  all  the  tribute.  Many  were  exhausted 
by  dragging  heavy  artillery  over  the  precipi- 
tous mountains.  Garcilasso  describes  the  im- 
mense beams  that  crushed  the  Indians  stagger- 
ing beneath  their  weight,  who  were  relieved, 
only  on  account  of  necessity,  at  every  two 
hundred  paces.  When  Gonzalo  Pizarro  in  coat 
of  mail  covered  with  cloth  of  gold  made  his 

[89] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

triumphal  entry  as  governor  into  the  City  of 
the  Kings,  the  twenty-two  pieces  of  cannon 
which  saluted  as  the  procession  advanced 
through  the  streets,  were  carried  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  six  thousand  Indians.  All  these  Indians 
were  well  trained  in  morality  and  sound  doc- 
trine by  the  clergy  of  Spain. 

And  worst  of  all,  deep  within  the  mountains 
of  Peru,  hollowed  by  the  gold  and  silver  which 
they  had  removed  to  enrich  a  country  of 
whose  existence  they  would  never  be  aware  in 
any  other  way,  the  Indians  were  dying,  thou- 
sands at  a  time.  Skeletons  concealed  in  old 
mines  are  now  found,  covered  with  fibers  of 
silver  melted  by  subterranean  fires  just  beneath 
the  cold  desert.  Mines  now  abandoned  can  be 
traced  by  piles  of  human  bones. 

A  pair  of  bright  green  arms,  petitioning, 
stretched  forth  from  the  body  which  has  dis- 
appeared, were  discovered  in  the  bottom  of  an 
ancient  copper  mine.  The  copper  water  had 
filtered  through  and  covered  them  with  a  green 
sheen.  Every  finger  is  tense  with  supplication, 
every  fiber  as  in  the  moment  of  death;  not  an 
eager  tendon  or  nerve  quivering  to  the  surface 

[90] 


BACKGROUNDS 

failed  of  preservation.  All  are  petrified  in  a 
bronze  of  nature's  molding. 

Stories  are  still  told  that  the  Spaniards  drove 
ten  thousand  Indians  at  once  to  work  in  a  Peru- 
vian mine.  When  their  strength  was  exhausted 
or  they  died  from  lack  of  food,  the  Spaniards 
drove  up  ten  thousand  more  —  an  extrava- 
ganza of  destruction  matched  only  by  the 
scale  of  nature's  waste.  It  must  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  cruelty  to  the  Indians  was  due  not  to 
Spanish  law,  but  to  the  abuse  of  it. 

"  In  twenty -five  years  more  than  eight  mil- 
lion Indians  were  worked  to  death  in  the  mines 
of  Peru." 

"  In  a  century,  nine  tenths  of  the  people  had 
been  destroyed  by  overwork  and  cruelty." 

No  wonder  Spain  was  able  to  equip  an  Armada ! 


in 

Against  such  a  dark  background  flamed  the 
lurid  Inquisition. 

The  working  out  of  the  encomienda,  or  system 
of  slavery,  and  the  mita,  or  forced  work  in  the 
mines,  was  more  horrible  than  the  tortures 

[91] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

going  on  in  Lima  only  because  of  the  scale  on 
which  the  destruction  took  place.  In  1570  the 
Blessing  of  the  Inquisition  had  been  conferred 
upon  Peru  by  Philip  II.  "At  first  heresy,  then 
blasphemy,  sorcery,  polygamy,  insulting  serv- 
ants, opposition  to  jurisdiction,  were  punished 
by  whipping,  banishment,  prison,  and  death 
by  fire.  In  all  cases  the  goods  were  confis- 
cated." The  disgrace  of  an  executed  man  did 
not  end  even  with  his  death.  "  The  sons  and 
daughters  and  grandchildren  of  the  male  line 
lost  their  rights  of  citizenship.  They  might  not 
carry  gold,  silver,  pearls,  costly  stones,  corals, 
silk,  velvet,  or  fine  cloth.  They  might  not  ride 
on  horses,  carry  weapons,  or  use  any  of  the 
things  of  which  they  were  unworthy." 

One  star-spangled  night,  a  man  looking  at 
the  sky  remarked  that  the  multitude  of  stars 
was  superfluous,  thus  assuming  that  God  had 
erred  in  creation,  which  was  heretical  blas- 
phemy. Juan  de  Arianza  appeared  in  the  auto 
of  1631  because,  when  reading  the  Scriptures, 
he  exclaimed:  "  Ea!  There  is  nothing  but 
living  and  dying!  "  which  sounded  ill  to  those 
who  heard  it.  One  man  bragged  that  he  had  a 

[92] 


horse  that  could  go  sixty  leagues  in  one  day: 
for  that  he  had  two  hundred  strokes  of  the  lash. 
Another  had  said  he  knew  an  herb  which  made 
wives  invisible  before  their  husbands:  he  re- 
ceived five  years'  imprisonment.  A  young 
priest  said  he  had  seen  the  little  Saviour  in  his 
dreams:  his  punishment  was  two  hundred 
lashes  and  five  years'  work  in  the  galleys.  An- 
other, who  wished  to  found  a  new  sect,  had 
called  the  Indians  the  children  of  Israel  and  had 
declared  that  priests  should  marry,  that  there 
should  be  no  confessional,  and  that  the  Bishop 
of  Lima  ought  to  be  Pope.  He  thought  the 
Bible  ought  to  be  translated  into  the  language 
of  the  people  and  that  he  was  holy  as  Gabriel 
and  'patient  as  Job.  This  unfortunate  was 
burned  alive ;  the  proceedings  of  the  suit  against 
him  filled  three  thousand  pages. 

Throughout  the  seventeenth  century  Peru 
was  filled  with  mystic  impostors,  like  the  far- 
famed  Angela  Carranza,  most  of  whom  were 
dealt  with  by  autos  de  fe.  The  use  of  coca  was 
considered  a  part  of  this  sorcery  and  was  pun- 
ished severely. 

The  confession  of  a  real  or  an  accused  crime 
[93] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

was  drawn  out  by  torture  and  compelled  by  a 
repetition  of  the  torture.  From  the  final  judg- 
ment there  was  no  appeal.  All  was  enacted 
under  seal  of  deepest  secrecy.  The  torture 
chamber  was  somewhat  removed,  so  that  the 
screams  of  the  victims  could  not  be  heard  in 
the  street. 

Three  kinds  of  torture  were  used  in  Lima. 
There  was  the  compound  pulley.  A  man's 
hands  were  bound  to  his  back,  and  he  was 
raised  by  a  pulley  to  the  ceiling  by  his  hands; 
heavy  iron  weights  were  attached  to  his  feet. 
Sometimes,  instead  of  this,  the  victim  was 
strapped  on  a  table,  an  iron  collar  about  his 
neck,  and  stretched  in  both  directions  without 
risk  of  choking;  but  every  bone  in  his  body 
was  dislocated.  The  second  method  was  smoth- 
ering. The  man's  hands  and  feet  were  tied 
above  a  bench,  and  on  his  upper  arms,  thighs, 
and  calves,  lacing  machines  were  adjusted. 
Then  a  funnel  was  put  in  his  mouth  and  water 
was  slowly  poured  in.  The  third  method  was 
the  worst  of  all.  The  feet  were  made  fast,  the 
soles  were  covered  with  fat,  then  live  coals 
were  brought  gradually  nearer  and  nearer  —  a 

[94] 


BACKGROUNDS 

process  of  roasting.  When  the  pain  was  keen- 
est, a  board  was  shoved  between  coals  and  feet, 
and  the  sinner  was  asked  if  he  would  now  con- 
fess his  crime. 

By  a  bull  of  Paul  III  torture  could  not  last 
over  an  hour.  After  that  the  victim  usually 
had  convulsions  or  lost  his  mind.  A  doctor 
came,  whenever  such  was  the  case,  to  authorize 
further  torture. 

Thumbscrews  were  still  used  in  1813. 

Dr.  Lea  says  punishments  in  Lima  were  in- 
flicted with  greater  rigor  than  in  Spain.  If  it 
were  lashing,  the  penitents,  without  distinction 
as  to  sex,  were  marched  in  procession  through 
the  streets,  naked  from  the  waist  up,  with  in- 
scriptions denoting  their  offenses,  while  the 
executioner  plied  the  lash.  The  mob  stoned 
them  as  an  act  of  especial  piety. 

The  Inquisition  had  command  of  the  press. 
The  tribunal  of  Inquisitors,  judging  all,  were 
judged  by  none  and  wielded  absolute  power. 
The  Holy  Tribunal  did  not  wish  to  shed  blood, 
so  the  accused  were  either  strangled  or  burned. 
The  death-warrant  began  with  the  words  Christi 
nomine  invocato,  and  officials  of  the  law  were 

[95] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

asked  to  treat  the  condemned  with  pity  and 
moderation. 

The  auto  de  fe,  the  Act  of  Faith,  was  intended 
as  a  demonstration  of  authority,  a  representa- 
tion of  the  day  of  judgment,  and  it  was  the 
highest  exhibition  of  piety. 

Following  is  a  description  of  an  auto  de  fe  in 
Lima,  on  the  sixteenth  of  November,  1625, 
quoted  from  Middendorf. 

A  procession  went  at  daybreak  on  horseback 
through  the  city,  with  trumpets,  fifes,  and 
drums,  to  announce  the  execution.  A  platform 
was  built  on  the  plaza,  forty  ells  high,  and  a 
stadium  was  erected  for  eight  thousand  people. 
"  Between  eight  and  nine  in  the  morning  the 
sinners  were  called  for.  A  cross  covered  with 
black  crape  belonging  to  the  cathedral  was 
carried  before  them  by  four  priests,  all  singing 
miserere  in  a  wailing  tone.  Each  penitent 
walked  between  two  soldiers  and  other  honor- 
able persons.  Silver  boxes  at  the  rear  contained 
the  judgments. 

"  The  viceroy  came  out  of  his  palace  accom- 
panied by  a  guard  of  honor,  musketeers,  and 
two  trumpeters.  Doctors,  lawyers,  and  uni- 

[96] 


BACKGROUNDS 

versity  professors  preceded  the  monks  and  the 
priests,  standard  bearers  in  coats  of  mail  with 
clubs,  the  captain  of  the  watch,  and  judges,  the 
oldest  of  whom  walked  by  the  viceroy,  cavalry, 
generals,  and  pages.  The  Inquisitors  had  hats 
on  top  of  their  caps,  worn  only  at  that  time, 
decorated  with  the  insignia  of  the  Pope's  leg- 
ates. The  militia  had  formed  in  line,  and  at 
the  appearance  of  the  black  and  gold  banner 
of  the  Inquisition  they  lowered  their  flags  in 
salute.  An  altar  was  raised,  a  chair  for  the 
viceroy  and  the  high  officials. 

"  The  eldest  one  rose  and  addressed  the 
viceroy.  '  Your  Excellency  swears  and  promises 
upon  his  faith  and  word  as  a  true  Catholic 
Viceroy  appointed  by  His  Catholic  Highness, 
to  defend  with  all  his  might  the  Catholic  faith, 
which  the  Holy  Apostolic  Church  in  Rome 
recognizes,  to  further  its  well  being  and  growth, 
to  follow  up  the  heretics  and  dissenters  and 
enemies,  to  give  necessary  help  and  aid  to  the 
Holy  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  and  its  serv- 
ants, so  that  the  heretics  and  disturbers  of  our 
Christian  religion  shall  be  taken  and  punished 
according  to  the  law  of  the  Holy  Church,  with- 

[97] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

out  your  Excellency  making  any  exception  in 
favor  of  anybody  no  matter  what  his  station 
in  life  be.' 

"The  viceroy  replied:  'I  swear  it  and 
promise  by  my  faith  and  word.' 

"  '  If  your  Excellency  does  so,  as  we  expect 
from  your  piety  and  Christianity  you  will,  the 
Lord  God  will  bless  all  the  works  undertaken 
by  your  Excellency  in  His  holy  service  and  will 
give  you  health  and  long  life  as  this  kingdom 
and  the  service  of  His  Majesty  needs.' 

"  A  mass  was  read  for  the  viceroy,  and  a 
priest  extolled  from  the  chancel  the  glory  which 
comes  to  religion  through  the  sacrifice  of  here- 
tics. After  the  sermon,  all  pledged  themselves 
to  tell  any  act  contrary  to  religion  which  they 
knew  of,  and  not  to  give  protection  to  any 
heretic  who  was  under  the  ban  of  the  church. 

1  The  denunciation  was  read  as  soon  as  the 
culprit  was  named,  led  up  out  of  his  secret  cell 
and  put  into  a  cage  from  which  he  had  to  hear 
his  final  judgment.  He  was  dressed  in  the  San 
Benito,  in  itself  a  lasting  shame.  It  reached 
to  the  knees  of  the  sinner  and  had  his  portrait 
painted  upon  it  surrounded  by  flames,  devils, 

[98] 


BACKGROUNDS 

and  dragons.  On  his  head  he  wore  a  bag-like, 
high  and  pointed  cap,  on  which  were  devils' 
faces  in  flames.  Gags  were  ready  in  case  blas- 
phemers should  break  out  against  the  judges." 
The  burning  is  said  to  have  taken  place  where 
the  bull-ring  now  is. 


IV 

In  1746  the  city  of  Lima,  — the  gorgeous  City 
of  the  Kings,  —  at  the  climax  of  its  luxury,  was 
utterly  destroyed.  Seventy-four  churches,  four- 
teen monasteries  with  their  paintings,  lamps  of 
gold,  vessels  of  silver,  precious  stones,  tapestries, 
and  mirrors,  their  beautiful  fountains,  arches, 
cloisters,  and  stairways  in  rare  designs,  were 
laid  waste.  The  building  material  was  as  rich 
as  the  work  upon  it;  as  a  contemporary  trav- 
eler expressed  it:  "  If  it  did  not  exceed  in 
beauty,  it  at  least  equaled  anything  in  the 
world."  In  four  minutes  there  was  complete 
desolation.  Out  of  the  whole  city  only  twenty 
buildings  remained  standing.  Bridges  broke, 
palaces  fell,  the  sick  in  the  hospitals  were  buried 
alive;  nuns  in  their  cloisters,  monks  in  their 

[99] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

cells,  were  suffocated  in  clouds  of  sulphurous 
dust.  Churches  collapsed,  crushing  those  who 
were  praying  within.  Even  the  Holy  Inquisition 
was  obliged  to  suspend  torture  for  the  time 
being. 

The  earth  was  like  an  animal  shaking  the 
dust  from  its  back.  It  swept  forward  in  great 
waves;  walls  were  reeds  on  its  shores,  bending 
to  the  tempest.  Between  the  waves,  clouds  of 
poisonous  dust  rose  from  the  chasms. 

Clocks  stopped.  Bells  in  the  towers  clashed 
with  limp  bell  ropes,  till  towers  following  in 
turn  stifled  the  din  under  smoking  debris. 
Everything  was  reversed;  that  which  stood 
still  was  set  in  violent  motion,  and  moving 
things  were  brought  to  rest.  Shrieks  for  help 
and  agonized  prayers  mingled,  until  they,  too, 
ceased. 

The  sea  retreated  half  a  league  from  Callao, 
gathered  strength  from  unknown,  hidden  places, 
and  with  a  cosmic  roar  rushed  over  the  entire 
city,  engulfing  it  and  carrying  all  the  ships  of 
the  harbor  across  its  walls  and  towers  to  be 
stranded  in  inland  gardens.  All  of  its  five 
thousand  inhabitants  perished  in  the  deluge, 

[100] 


BACKGROUNDS 

and  there  was  nothing  left  to  give  the  least  idea 
of  what  Callao  had  been. 

"  To  be  preserved  from  its  fury  could  only 
be  attributed  to  a  particular  and  extraordinary 
help  of  Providence."  Yet  thousands  in  Lima 
who  had  escaped  destruction  or  death  from 
fright  died  of  fevers  which  came  after.  Those 
who  remained  were  occupied  with  burying  the 
dead  in  trenches.  Famine  as  well  as  fever  fol- 
lowed, for  the  grain  magazines  of  Callao  had 
been  buried  under  water,  ovens  had  fallen  in, 
aqueducts  bringing  water  for  turning  the  mills 
had  been  destroyed. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Loath  to  give  up  its  fiend- 
ish hold,  not  yet  glutted  with  destruction,  the 
underground  fury  visited  the  helpless  ruins  it 
had  created  with  five  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
earthquakes  during  the  next  year! 

Processions  of  priests  barefoot,  with  crowns 
of  thorns  on  their  heads,  cords  about  their 
necks,  and  heavy  chains  on  their  ankles,  taught 
the  people  that  the  destruction  was  of  God, 
the  roaring  of  the  subterranean  powers  a  warn- 
ing against  luxury.  The  prior  of  one  society 
went  about  covered  with  ashes;  a  heavy  bridle 

[101] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

cut  his  mouth,  iron  nails  fastened  his  eyelids, 
his  back  was  bare.  '  This  is  the  punishment 
that  God  in  heaven  executes,"  said  a  lay 
brother,  walking  behind  him,  as  he  let  fall  an 
iron  lash  so  heavily  that  the  blood  spurted. 

The  bones  of  Santo  Toribio  and  Santa  Rosa 
were  carried  about;  the  viceroy  and  great  per- 
sons followed  in  mourning,  with  ropes  about 
their  necks.  Distinguished  ladies,  barefoot, 
their  hair  shaved,  walked  in  coarse  clothes. 
The  dense  stillness  was  broken  by  a  monk's 
voice:  "  Holy  God,  Holy  God,  be  merciful  to 
us." 


102 


CHAPTER  VIII 

LIMA   OF   TWO   ASPECTS 

THE  valley  of  the  Rimac,  where  glisten  the 
towers  of  Lima,  is  only  one  of  the  river-ways 
which  cross  the  desert.  The  river  of  the  ancient 
oracle  Rimac,  "  he  who  speaks,"  has  given  its 
name  in  perverted  form  to  Lima  —  the  Spanish 
city.  The  temple  of  the  speaker  was  in  ruins 
long  before  Spanish  days. 

Like  other  streams  of  the  west  coast,  the 
great  river  Rimac  has  run  through  the  gamut 
of  all  zones.  Hurrying  down  from  the  cordil- 
lera,  it  spreads  fertility  far  and  wide  over  the 
dry  shore-valley.  As  far  away  as  Chorillos, 
"  little  water  jets,"  the  water  of  the  Rimac 
niters  through,  led  astray  for  irrigation.  But 
its  own  journey  to  the  sea  is  vain.  The  moun- 
tain water  is  so  precious  to  the  desert  that  by 
the  time  the  stream  has  reached  the  shore,  it 
has  not  force  enough  left  to  make  an  outlet 
across  the  beach  into  the  ocean. 

Irrigating  ditches  and  crumbling  mud  walls 
[103] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

divide  gardens  and  vineyards  and  orchards  of 
wind-blown  olive  trees.  Ruins  of  mud  accumu- 
late dust.  Luxuriant  nasturtiums  drape  every 
dusty  bank.  Vestiges  of  fortresses,  temples, 
and  grave-mounds  of  the  three  ancient  cities  of 
the  Rimac  valley  still  terrify  owners  of  the 
sugar-fields,  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  sepulchers 
sometimes  return  at  night  to  sit  beneath  the 
grape-arbors  and  listen  to  the  murmur  of  irri- 
gation streams  which  they  made.  Cajamar- 
quilla,  Armatambo,  and  Huadca  were  the  names 
of  these  cities,  and  the  whirlwind  was  their 
most  distinguished  god.  His  white-robed  priests 
ate  neither  salt  nor  pepper,  and  tore  out  the 
hearts  of  men  and  of  animals  to  offer  them  to 
the  gods  on  the  platforms  of  temples. 

Sometimes,  too,  the  Huguenot  hermit  who 
lived  near  the  site  of  Huadca  and  who  was 
burned  by  the  Inquisition  returns  to  his  little 
caves  at  nightfall. 

Lima  is  in  the  tropics.  Its  fruits  and  flowers 
are  those  of  the  tropics.  Yet  it  is  neither  hot 
nor  cold.  There  is  no  rain  and  not  too  much 
sun,  a  pleasant  monotony  interrupted  only  by 
earthquakes.  An  umbrella  merchant  once  tried 

[104] 


LIMA    OF    TWO   ASPECTS 

to  set  up  business  in  Lima.  His  act  brought 
forth  an  article  in  a  local  paper  on  rain,  and 
how  on  one  occasion  when  it  came  suddenly 
people  had  to  get  out  of  bed  to  find  secure 
places.  Editorials  on  umbrellas  followed. 

No,  there  is  little  to  fear  from  changes  of 
weather,  not  even  thunder  and  lightning.  There 
is  an  endless  summer,  with  streets  under  a  con- 
tinuous awning;  yet,  after  all,  only  a  summer. 
The  rainless  desert  is  soaked  in  mist  all  winter 
long.  It  falls  suddenly  like  a  veil  over  the  bare 
mountains  and  drenches  the  sunlight.  A  glimpse 
through  it  shows  a  faint  sheen,  sharp  cliffs  hazy 
with  hues  of  light-green  velvet,  enameled  on 
closer  inspection  with  multitudes  of  differing 
flowers.  Amancaes  spring  up  dew-laden,  those 
queer,  greenish-yellow  lilies  hanging  on  smooth, 
leafless  stems,  giving  their  name  to  whole  val- 
leys which  they  fill.  One  such  lies  beyond  the 
gardens  of  the  Barefoot  Friars.  A  favorite 
retreat  for  Limaneans,  it  is  called  the  National 
Garden.  But  scorpions  lie  under  the  stones. 

"  A  suggestive  kind  of  picture  used  to  hang 
in  many  a  mediaeval  church.  It  was  painted 

[105] 


PERU,  A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

on  both  sides  of  a  board.  On  one  side  were  a 
pair  of  lovers  walking  hand  in  hand  in  a  meadow 
gay  with  spring.  Flowers  blossomed  about 
their  feet;  birds  sang  in  the  trees  above  their 
heads. 

"  On  the  reverse  was  the  grim  figure  of  Death, 
hour-glass  and  scythe  in  hand.  The  thing, 
pendent  from  a  single  cord,  hung  free  in  a 
draughty  place,  and  the  air  twisted  it  about 
hither  and  thither,  so  that  one  side  and  the 
other  was  seen  in  swift  interchange." 

The  Alameda,  flanked  with  Norfolk  Island 
pines  and  marble  benches,  had  in  other  days 
rows  upon  rows. of  orange  trees,  stone  fountains, 
and  basins  as  well.  At  five  in  the  afternoon 
gilded  carriages  streamed  from  palace  gardens, 
driving  about  so  that  their  fair  occupants  could 
greet  their  friends.  Four  thousand  brocade- 
lined,  gold-trimmed  carriages  and  innumerable 
chaises  shimmered  through  the  heavy  odor  of 
orange  blossoms. 

A  traveler  of  the  seventeenth  century  has 
described  the  lady  of  Lima,  clad  not  in  linen, 
but  in  the  most  expensive  lace  of  Flanders, 
slipped  over  an  underdress  of  cloth  of  gold. 

[106] 


GRAPES  RAISED  BY  THE  BAREFOOT  FRIARS,  (LOS  DESCALZOS),  LIMA. 


LIMA   OF    TWO   ASPECTS 

She  glittered  with  jewels  from  head  to  foot, 
her  shoes  were  fastened  with  diamond  buckles, 
aigrettes  of  diamonds  were  in  her  hair  —  "a 
splendor  still  the  more  astonishing  as  it  is  so 
very  common,"  he  said.  Nay,  she  even  scat- 
tered perfume  through  her  nosegays.  On  great 
fete  days  she  tiptoed  to  church,  enveloped  all 
but  one  eye  in  a  silk-lace  shawl.  Beneath  it 
glinted  a  flower-embroidered  dress  of  rarest 
stuff,  fluttering  a  multitude  of  ribbons;  under 
a  petticoat  of  heavy  brocade,  miniature  golden 
feet  peeped  out,  or  slippers  of  peach-colored 
velvet.  The  lady  of  Lima  was  famed  for  her 
wit,  entrancing  the  visitor  as  she  sipped  her 
Paraguay  tea  from  a  silver-mounted  gourd. 

Little  is  left  of  former  splendor.  The  statues, 
the  five  rows  of  orange  trees,  the  sweet  smells 
are  gone.  At  the  end  of  the  long  Alameda, 
bordered  with  wind-blown  trees  and  wrecks  of 
marble  benches,  is  a  fountain  under  palms  and 
Norfolk  Island  pines.  Across  a  shady  space 
and  above  a  high,  yellow  plaster  wall,  is  the 
monastery  tower,  where  hangs  a  clear-toned 
bell.  Rugged  hills  rise  abruptly.  This  is  the 
home  of  the  Barefoot  Friars.  A  labyrinth  of 

F1071 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

paths  leads  to  their  orchards  and  gardens  and 
cells.  Going  every  morning  in  pairs  to  the 
markets  to  beg  for  food,  they  own  nothing. 
They  live  entirely  on  alms. 

Just  before  two  o'clock  each  day,  the  lame, 
halt,  and  blind  begin  to  gather  from  all  the 
town  wards,  each  carrying  a  receptacle.  One 
poor  woman  with  three  or  four  babies  seats 
herself  upon  the  plaster  shelf  skirting  the  wall, 
setting  down  her  pottery  jar  by  the  brook  to 
wait. 

The  bell  strikes  two  long,  clear  tones.  The 
whole  space  is  filled.  The  great  monastery 
gate  is  flung  open,  and  two  brown-clad  monks, 
sleeves  rolled  up,  bring  out  between  them  a 
steaming  copper  cauldron.  The  famished  mul- 
titude fall  to  their  knees,  many  with  difficulty, 
and  a  prayer  is  intoned. 

Then  the  procession  begins:  men,  women, 
and  children  in  various  stages  of  decrepitude. 
Beggars  with  old  tin  cans  totter  forward  as  to 
the  Mecca  of  a  long,  hard  journey.  Decent- 
looking  women,  very  haughty,  conceal  their 
pails  under  black  manias.  Each  receives  two 
ladlefuls  of  meat,  soup,  and  vegetables.  The 

[108] 


LIMA    OF    TWO   ASPECTS 

kettle  is  filled  again  and  refilled,  till  all  are 
served.  After  the  little  groups  of  people  have 
finished  their  cazuela,  the  heavy  door  clashes 
together. 

Beyond  the  turn  of  the  wall,  far  down  the 
avenue  of  palms,  the  Mendicant  Friars  emerge, 
four  by  four,  and  swing  off  across  country  for 
their  daily  walk. 


[109] 


CHAPTER  IX 

CONVENTS   OPEN   AND   CLOSED 

LIMA  is  the  city  of  bells.  Exuberant  wedding 
carols  blend  their  metallic  jingle  with  three 
solemn  peals  for  the  dying.  Hoarse,  ill-cast 
bells  mingle  with  bells  whose  tones  drip  like 
honey  upon  the  monks  beneath,  who,  with 
cowls  thrown  back,  are  pruning  monastery 
gardens,  bringing  water  to  the  fig-tree  from  the 
fountain.  Bells  are  pitched  high  and  bells  are 
pitched  low.  Bells  struck  from  without  shake 
off  the  clear  ring  circling  their  edges.  There 
are  notes  with  a  dry  sonority  like  the  clash  of 
bones.  Sharp  bells  nag  the  persistent  sinner. 
Soft,  sweet  bells  lure  him  to  prayer.  Quick 
strokes  near  at  hand  only  half  conceal  those 
distant  thuds,  as  if  the  tone  had  been  struck 
from  the  atmosphere,  giving  "  a  solemn,  relig- 
ious shimmer  to  the  day." 

[HO] 


CONVENTS    OPEN    AND    CLOSED 

Though  they  are  more  used  than  those  else- 
where, the  bells  of  Lima,  it  is  said,  never  grow 
old. 

The  tones  are  of  every  quality,  from  the 
tinkle  of  little  convent  bells  calling  the  sisters 
to  midnight  prayer,  to  the  great  bell  of  the 
Jesuits,  whose  "  clash,  throb,  and  long  swoon 
of  sound  "  strikes  your  chest.  Silver  and  gold 
in  this  bell  cling  to  the  clear,  deep  notes  struck 
from  it  and  pulsate  more  than  half  a  minute  in 
the  tone,  which  carries  far  out  over  city  roofs 
to  sugar-fields  and  vineyards.  The  left  tower 
of  San  Pedro  was  built  about  this  bell  in  1666 
and  it  cannot  be  removed. 

San  Pedro  has  three  portals  on  the  facade, 
only  allowed  for  a  cathedral.  The  story  goes 
that  when  it  was  building,  permission  was  asked 
from  Rome  for  a  portal,  which  was  given  of 
course  without  delay.  When  the  church  with 
its  three  bronze-knobbed  doors  was  finished, 
the  Vatican  was  outraged. 

'  What,"   word  was  sent,  "  you  ask  for  one 
door  and  make  three?  " 

"  For  two  doors  one  has  not  to  have  per- 
mission," came  the  reply,  "  only  for  three.  We 

[111] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

would  have  had  two,  anyway;  it  was  for  the 
extra  one  we  needed  to  ask." 

The  church  was  finished  and  consecrated. 
What  could  be  done? 

Monastery  bells  waken  the  monks  at  five 
o'clock,  masses  follow  every  half-hour  through- 
out the  morning.  Burials  are  tolled  very  early 
by  two  large,  discordant  bells,  struck  simulta- 
neously, "  a  roaring,  sinister,  mournful  peal." 
At  noon  a  great  caroling  honors  the  Holy  One 
to  whom  the  next  day  is  dedicated.  After  sun- 
set three  slow  peals  boom  from  all  churches. 
Old  people  stand,  men  take  off  their  hats.  At 
eight  sounds  the  prayer  to  the  dead,  at  nine, 
nine  peals  from  every  bell  in  the  city  are  an 
invitation  to  pray  for  those  who  die  to-night. 
This  is  the  time  when  the  bell  in  the  left  tower 
of  San  Pedro  rings.  The  left  tower  of  the 
cathedral  is  the  home  of  many  owls,  which  come 
out  at  night  to  cry  above  the  houses  where  the 
sick  are  lying  to  warn  them  of  approaching 
death. 

Because  innocent  voices  are  intercessors  most 
pleasing  to  God,  Indian  mothers  in  the  moun- 
tains prod  the  poor  little  savage  babies,  flop- 

[112] 


CONVENTS    OPEN    AND    CLOSED 

ping  on  their  backs,  with  long,  pointed,  rat-tail 
silver  spoons,  so  that  they  wail  intermittently. 
In  Lima  the  voice  of  the  bells  is  lifted  to  avert 
catastrophes  and  to  beg  for  mercy  in  times  of 
earthquake.  When  the  bells  cease,  the  im- 
portance of  silence  is  assumed  instantly,  as  with 
the  dropping  of  the  wind. 

A  little  jungle  of  cypress,  magnolia,  jasmine, 
pomegranate,  and  fig  clusters  about  a  foun- 
tain which  one  hears  rather  than  sees.  Con- 
tralto bird-notes  seem  to  come  from  far  away, 
like  "  the  melodious  songs  of  birds  with  yel- 
low combs  in  the  blessed  land  of  Aztlan." 

The  garden  is  overgrown  with  passion-flowers, 
concealing  within  their  petals  the  sacred  heart 
and  nails,  even  the  crown  of  thorns.  Night- 
blooming  cereus  hangs  darkly  above  the  ground- 
glass  bells  of  the  floriponda,  so  ineffably  sweet 
after  sundown.  Its  leaves  are  narcotic.  (In 
Lima  one  is  often  given  a  nosegay  of  jasmine 
done  up  in  a  floriponda  flower.) 

I  sat  waiting  on  a  bench  in  the  cloister  garden. 
Missionary  priests  were  showing  maps  to  little, 
fluted  nuns.  Others  in  black  robes  and  furry 

[113] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

hats  paced  up  and  down  the  cloister,  fondling 
small  missals  and  stopping  around  the  corner 
to  gaze  at  me  through  the  wrought-iron  grill. 
Mediaeval  life  in  full  swing,  complete  from  a 
glance  of  the  eye  to  the  jaunty  stick  cocked 
under  the  Don  Juan  cloak! 

One  of  the  priests  carried  two  phosphorescent 
beetles  in  a  piece  of  sugar-cane. 

In  this  convent  young  girls  are  taught  that  a 
"  wife  should  be  loving  and  faithful,  tolerating 
the  defects  of  her  husband,  trying  to  make 
herself  esteemed  by  him,  to  soften  for  him  the 
sorrows  of  life,  cultivating  abnegation,  even- 
ness of  disposition,  tolerance,  and  sweetness. 
She  ought  never  to  think  that  the  faults  of  her 
husband  could  excuse  her  own." 

Very  different  was  the  Dominican  convent 
of  Santa  Rosa. 

An  illuminated  manuscript  hung  at  the  portal, 
an  absolution  for  those  who  worship  here,  sent 
by  the  Pope  several  hundred  years  ago.  The 
recess  in  the  wall  was  paved  with  cobblestones. 
Antique  paintings  of  saints  hung  frameless 
above.  Beside  the  huge  doorway,  heavily 
barred,  was  a  turnstile  in  the  wall,  with  solid 

[114] 


partitions  between  the  shelves  to  prevent  a 
glimpse  within.  The  staring  word  Paciencia 
was  written  above  it.  Utter  silence ! 

Rosa  Mercedes  and  I  tiptoed  through  a  nar- 
row doorway,  under  the  word  Modestia.  We 
sat  on  a  bench  in  front  of  a  wooden  grill  with 
hexagonal  openings.  A  vague,  distinctive  smell 
drifted  through  it.  On  the  other  end  of  the 
bench  a  woman  was  softly  sobbing.  We  waited 
half  an  hour  or  more. 

The  week  before,  the  birthday  of  Santa  Rosa 
had  been  celebrated  in  the  cloister  where  she 
lived.  The  week  after  was  now  being  cele- 
brated here,  where  she  died.  As  I  listened, 
there  was  an  explosion  of  fire-crackers  within. 

Beyond  a  wide  space  on  the  other  side  of  the 
grill  was  a  fine  wire  netting,  so  heavy  that  only 
a  shade,  a  brush  of  a  veil,  a  suggestion  of  a 
smile  could  penetrate.  A  soft  sound  came 
through  the  blackness,  and  a  voice  unthinkably 
sweet  said:  "  Buenos  dias,  Rosa  mia."  It  was 
the  Sister  Margarita,  who  had  been  thirty  years 
behind  those  bars  without  a  glimpse  of  friends, 
buried  to  the  evils  of  the  world,  consecrated  to 
Santa  Rosa. 

[115] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

The  voice  began  to  speak. 

"  Our  glorious  Rosa!  Let  me  tell  you  that 
when  she  was  only  three  years  old  the  lid  of  a 
heavy  chest  fell  upon  her  thumb.  She  looked 
up  at  her  mother  and  smiled.  She  concealed 
stinging  herbs  in  her  gloves,  and  when  visitors 
came,  she  rubbed  pepper  into  her  eyes,  so  that 
she  could  neither  see  them  nor  think  of  what 
they  were  saying.  Rosa  santisima! 

"  When  she  sang  to  her  garden  the  canticle: 
'  O  all  ye  green  things  of  the  earth,  bless  ye 
the  Lord,'  the  trees  clapped  their  leaves  to- 
gether, and  even  the  vegetables  lifted  up  mur- 
murs of  praise.  She  invented  hymns  to  the 
Virgin  and  sang  them  antiphonally  with  a  bird, 
though  she  was  often  surprised  at  being  able  to 
understand  the  speech  of  unbaptized  beings. 
One  day  in  the  garden  a  black  and  white  butter- 
fly hovered  above  her.  Thenceforth  she  under- 
stood that  it  was  decreed  that  she  should  enter 
the  order  of  Saint  Dominicus.  Her  life  from 
that  time  on  was  a  series  of  acts  of  self -mortifi- 
cation. Rosa  inocentisima! 

"  She  divided  her  day  into  twelve  hours  of 
prayer,  ten  hours  of  millinery  work,  and  two 

[116] 


CONVENTS    OPEN    AND    CLOSED 

hours  of  sleep.     She  was  constantly  aware  of 
the  presence  of  the  angels.    Rosa  purisima! 

"  At  sixteen  she  entered  the  sisterhood.  She 
prayed  to  a  picture  of  Christ  until  it  broke  into 
a  sweat.  She  prepared  clothing  for  the  infant 
Jesus  by  prayer  —  fifty  litanies,  nine  hundred 
rosaries,  and  five  days  of  fasting  made  him  a 
little  garment;  and  for  toys,  she  said:  '  I  give 
my  tears,  my  sighs,  my  heart,  and  soul.' 

"  She  wore  a  belt  lined  with  nails,  which  she 
locked  about  her,  and  threw  the  key  down  a 
well.  Half  the  nail  belt  is  in  the  Santuario  of 
Santa  Rosa,  where  the  well  was.  It  went  dry 
on  the  day  of  her  death. 

"  She  died  here  in  ecstasy  on  this  very  spot 
at  the  age  of  thirty.  Rosa  gloriosisima!  ' 

I  spoke  with  the  voice.  I  asked  about  Santa 
Rosa's  shrine  with  its  thousands  of  little  silver 
ex-votos  in  Santo  Domingo. 

"  Yes,  that  is  where  she  lies  buried,  except 
once  a  year  on  the  thirtieth  of  August,  when 
she  journeys  to  the  cathedral  and  back. 

"  The  daughter  of  a  viceroy  once  climbed  out 
of  a  palace  window  at  night  to  take  the  veil  of 
Santa  Rosa. 

[117] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

"  When  the  Pope  was  deliberating  her  canon- 
ization, he  was  overwhelmed  by  a  rain  of  roses; 
when  it  was  finally  celebrated,  the  streets  of 
Lima  were  paved  with  silver  bars. 

"  In  1720,  when  they  dug  to  build  her  convent, 
a  strong  odor  of  roses  emanated  from  the  ground. 

"  We  keep  her  roses  blooming  throughout 
the  year;  they  grow  from  the  same  roots  as 
those  she  cared  for;  the  rest  of  the  time  we 
spend  in  embroidery  and  prayer." 

Such  a  wonderful  voice! 

The  Sister  Margarita  pressed  a  parchment- 
covered  book  close  against  the  netting. 

"  Here  is  a  true  life  of  Santa  Rosa.  It  has 
never  left  this  monastery.  When  you  read  it, 
you  will  understand  why  I  have  devoted  my 
life  to  God  through  the  mediation  of  our  glori- 
ous Saint,  our  Patron,  our  Rosa  de  Lima.  .  .  . 
She  stood  upon  these  stones  in  the  courtyard 
where  I  now  stand.  Can  you  see  why  a  stone 
has  not  been  changed?  .  .  .  There  is  no  word 
in  this  book  which  is  not  true.  I  know  it  by 
heart.  I  will  give  it  to  you.  .  .  . 

11  Es  catolica? "  The  voice  was  suddenly 
directed  toward  Rosa  Mercedes. 

[118] 


B.R.05.A.   Dt.  SJLWCTJL  JUAJLIX 

den  DeriUn  Read  van  S.Damrzcvy,  tot  LIMA,  (lie  trrt* 

2.0 


d 

CM     ?lf*U> 


:~x  aldaff  qejforvfn  den  3.fAitquS^i,i<ffi.  vumderkertift  vaUftien.. 

"'  "  •      1    1       ~  •      •       1     ^     *s    II  ~         ^  t 

mtraxflen  2>tt  a  dt  eerjlt  pLffmme.rn  vrw.rt  v** 


"Jf    l*tf*u>       tPrrr-eUt,  »etr  kttflantrn  vtmijf.  fkruffn. 
Jjracr  drr  fjLCitijc -xifJLfjr  vytjtn  Kafvo*  2en  H.AffSl 


SANTA  ROSA  DE  LIMA,  FROM  RET  WONDER  LEV  EN  VAN  DE  H.  ROSA, 
BRUSSEL,  1668. 


CONVENTS    OPEN    AND    CLOSED 

"  No,   protestante" 

"Oh!  ..." 

Her  voice  ran  down  the  gamut  of  the  scale. 

'  You  will  not  then  believe  my  book?  "  The 
voice  addressed  me. 

I  replied  that  I  should  value  the  book  more 
than  any  one  else  to  whom  she  could  have 
given  it. 

"  Ah,"  she  sighed,  "  then  that  is  why  I  wanted 
to  give  it  to  you." 

A  little  pause. 

"  Good-by-ie,"  she  said.  A  glint  beyond  the 
netting. 

"  Good-by-ie,  mia  amiga,"  and  Rosa  Mer- 
cedes and  I  stood  alone  outside. 

Following  is  a  Salutation  to  Santa  Rosa  pre- 
ceding her  novena,  published  in  Lima  in  1902: 

"  God  keep  thee,  O  admirable  virgin  and 
patron  of  ours,  Rose  of  Saint  Mary! 

"  God  save  thee,  joy  of  the  world,  glory  of  the 
city,  star  of  Lima,  crown  of  the  fatherland, 
most  rich  gold  of  Peru,  treasure  of  the  Indies! 

"  God  save  thee,  flower  of  the  church,  rose 
of  humility,  white  lily  of  purity,  olive  of  peace, 

ni9i 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

fire  of  charity,  most  precious  pearl,  most  beauti- 
ful dove! 

'  We  salute  thee,  O  most  loved  spouse  of  the 
Heart  of  Jesus!  Much  cherished  daughter  of 
most  Holy  Mary,  living  image  of  thy  mistress 
Catherine. 

4  We  praise  thee,  O  example  of  penitence! 
Chosen  from  thousands,  patron  of  a  new  world. 

"  We  bless  thee,  O  Most  Fragrant  Rose,  Most 
Precious  Rose,  Most  Innocent  Rose,  Most  Pure 
Rose,  Most  Illustrious  Rose,  Most  Holy  Rose, 
Most  Glorious  Rose! 

"  Rosa  fragrantisima,  Rosa  inocentisima,  Rosa 
purisima,  Rosa  ilustrisima,  Rosa  santisima,  Rosa 
gloriosisima!  " 


[120] 


CHAPTER  X 

ANOMALIES   OF   LIMA 


THEY  sat  about  the  dinner  table  —  a  delight- 
ful, stammering,  scientific  gentleman,  who  ad- 
vised my  carrying  home  some  live  camarones 
(crayfish);  a  young  English  curate,  here  to 
sketch  all  the  caterpillars  of  all  the  butterflies 
he  could  find,  and  their  cocoons;  the  grandson 
of  a  former  president  of  Peru,  who  spoke  of  his 
grandfather's  battles;  and  a  cousin  of  the 
actual  president,  who  told  tales  of  ostrich- 
hunting  in  the  pampas  of  Argentina,  a  cosmo- 
politan club  man,  whose  chief  interests  in  Lima 
were  cricket  and  polo.  There  was  a  man  who 
was  collecting  everything  from  pearls  to  re- 
duced heads  and  whose  gold  watch-fob  was  a 
Peruvian  tongue- weight  for  the  dead.  A  Chilean 
lady  with  the  grace  of  an  older  generation  spoke 
of  the  islands  of  Juan  Fernandez  and  their 
prehistoric  monuments,  which  have  a  nose  and 

[121] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

chin,  face  the  sun,  and  are  too  big  to  enter  the 
British  Museum.  That  led  toward  the  archeol- 
ogist. 

We  were  eating  cuculis  —  desert  doves  —  and 
alligator-pear  salad,  while  we  listened  to  stories 
of  pre-Inca  civilizations  from  the  man  who  has 
done  most  to  unravel  their  mysteries.  In  Peru 
the  alligator-pear  is  called  palta,  a  shiny,  dark- 
green,  leather-covered  shell  concealing  its  soft, 
nutty  flesh.  It  hangs  at  the  end  of  a  fine  twig, 
which  is  dragged  down  by  its  weight.  A  stiff 
mayonnaise  so  disguises  the  palta  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  tell  where  fruit  ends  and 
sauce  begins. 

A  lady  of  mixed  races  wore  twice  about  her 
neck  a  heavily-carved  chain,  on  her  breast  the 
large  cross  at  its  end.  She  spoke  of  a  friend 
who  had  searched  for  years  until  he  should  find 
a  gift  exactly  suited  to  her;  at  last  he  beheld 
this  chain  about  the  neck  of  a  pope  of  the  Greek 
church.  The  pope  parted  with  it  reluctantly, 
for  in  a  cavity  in  the  back  of  the  cross  he  kept 
his  sacred  relics. 

She  twirled  the  great  cross  between  her 
fingers. 

[122] 


'  Tres  chic,  n'est-ce  pas?  "  she  said.  "  And 
you  see,"  touching  the  clasp  to  loosen  a  little 
lid,  "  it's  just  the  size  for  a  powder-puff!  " 

A  folk-lore-specialist-explorer  was  discussing 
swinging  bridges  in  the  Andes  with  a  lady  whose 
husband  had  left  her  in  Lima  while  he  took  a 
distant  journey  in  the  interior  to  make  a  census 
of  savage  tribes. 

"  What  have  you  been  doing  to-day?  "  she 
asked. 

"  Bless  my  soul,  I  don't  remember,"  he  re- 
plied. "  Oh,  yes!  buying  slaves  in  the  jungle." 

Two  young  English  people  at  the  remote  end 
of  the  table  had  just  arrived  in  Lima  from  a 
honeymoon  adventure  up  the  Amazon.  They 
had  sailed  as  far  as  Iquitos;  then  they  had 
paddled,  they  had  ridden  mule-back,  they  had 
tramped  over  the  mountains,  and,  fording 
streams  to  their  waists,  had  lain  down  in  their 
wet  clothes  to  sleep  in  the  cold  wind.  We  all 
inquired  about  fever. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  the  red-cheeked  little  lady, 
"  my  husband  got  the  fever  one  day  in  Iquitos; 
it  turned  his  eyes  red  and  his  face  blue,  and  the 
whole  house  shook  with  his  chills." 

[123] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

He  seemed  to  like  to  talk  about  their  adven- 
tures. They  had  been  paddling  all  one  day,  he 
said,  and  were  paddling  still,  as  night  settled 
down  upon  the  Amazon.  Suddenly  there  was 
a  whirring  sound  like  a  great  cataract. 

"  Paddle  for  your  life,"  shrieked  the  guide,  and 
swinging  the  canoe  about,  they  fled  down-stream. 

The  whirlpool!  Its  encounter  the  greatest 
calamity  that  can  befall  a  traveler  upon  the 
Amazon!  No  craft,  however  strong,  once  caught 
by  the  outermost  edge  of  a  whirlpool,  can  es- 
cape. Whether  it  is  caused  by  a  sudden  squall 
brushing  through  the  forest  or  a  piece  of  the 
bank  falling  in,  is  not  known.  It  is  certain 
only  that  a  whirlpool  never  occurs  twice  in  the 
same  place. 

"  Death  in  that  region/'  he  went  on,  "  is 
commoner  than  life.  There  is  a  horrible  beast 
which  the  natives  call  a  flying  snake,  with  a 
blue  head  and  a  long  prong  upon  it.  It  flies 
sting  foremost.  You  are  sauntering  from  your 
hammock  to  your  cabin  door.  The  thing  flies 
against  you,  and  presto!  you  fall  with  the 
poison  of  his  contact,  and  another  grave  must 
be  dug  on  the  sposhy  banks  of  the  Amazon. 

[124] 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 

"  In  Iquitos  a  woman  bears  a  friend  a  grudge. 
She  pays  the  police  a  small  sum,  and  the  next 
time  her  friend  emerges,  she  is  bound  by  the 
guardian  of  the  peace,  beaten  until  she  falls, 
and  is  carried  home  to  die.  Prisoners  there  are 
allowed  to  order  their  own  meals,"  he  added. 

Then  came  stewed  guavas,  served  with  whirls 
of  white  of  egg  and  pink  and  white  pellets. 


II 

Nearly  everybody  makes  collections  in  Lima. 
In  the  ancient  house  of  a  marquis,  with  its 
court  fountain,  bougainvillea,  and  tall  Norfolk 
Island  pine,  were  benches  of  ebony  with  lower 
rounds  worn  into  hollows  by  the  feet  of  nuns; 
embroidered  muslin  stoles;  queer  manuscripts; 
tortoise-shell  combs  tall  enough  to  be  filled  in 
with  flowers;  silver  porringers;  and  a  point 
lace  parasol  with  a  carved  ivory  handle  —  all 
relics  of  vice-regal  days. 

One  room  was  musty  as  seventeen  mummies 
could  make  it.  Fifteen  soles,  they  told  us,  was 
the  price  of  a  mummy.  There  were  ancient, 
inlaid  chests  filled  with  cases  of  butterflies  from 

[125] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

beyond  the  mountains,  huge  snake-skins,  over- 
grown orioles'  nests,  necklaces  of  mummies' 
teeth,  and  carved  cases  of  huacos  dug  from 
Yunca  grave-mounds  —  the  pottery  of  mum- 
mies. Partly  filled  with  water  and  rocked  back 
and  forth,  the  quaint  things  gave  forth  the 
same  little  half -whistle,  half-sigh  which  notified 
their  owners  a  thousand  years  ago  that  the 
precious  water  was  being  stolen.  A  soft  bub- 
bling, somewhere  within  the  clay  form,  was  sup- 
posed to  imitate  the  voice  of  the  animal  painted 
on  the  outside.  The  liquids  were  meant  to 
refresh  a  thirsty  mummy  on  his  death  journey. 
He  still  holds  his  aching  head.  But  the  var- 
nished lips  were  never  parted,  and  the  gurgling 
liquid  of  smoky  flavor  has  never  been  sipped. 

These  jars  were  the  ephemeral  tablets  on 
which  a  whole  people  chose  to  leave  records  of 
itself.  The  work  of  their  hands  can  be  held  in 
ours.  We  can  look  into  the  staring  Indian  faces 
or  upon  the  weird  animals  which  pleased  them, 
shining  under  a  glaze  which  is  the  forgotten 
accomplishment  of  those  remote  tribes. 

There  are  finely  drawn  portraits  of  the  dead 
man's  friends,  whom  he  may  have  wished  as  fel- 

[126] 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 

low  pilgrims,  heads  of  men  and  women  singing  or 
smiling,  some  distorted  with  pain.  The  human 
face  twisted  to  the  same  lines  then  as  now. 

Wonderful  fish  glide  among  aquatic  plants, 
the  fox  enamored  of  the  moon  languishes  along 
her  thin  crescent.  '  The  sneaking  cat,  the 
sleepy  pelican,  the  supercilious,  impudent  par- 
rot," in  softest  yellow,  white,  red-brown,  or 
black,  glance  all  the  iris  shades  under  a  purple 
glaze. 

It  was  not  enough  to  paint  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people,  the  fauna  and  flora  of 
their  country;  they  chose  also  to  represent 
what  they  thought  and  believed  as  well  as  the 
adjustment  of  their  sandals.  We  can  peer  into 
their  monstrous,  often  loathsome,  mythology 
and  into  their  intangible  land  of  fancy.  Cats 
fight  with  griffins.  A  lizard  with  the  face  of  an 
owl  wears  a  jacket  and  bracelets.  A  chieftain 
in  full  regalia  has  a  girdle  ending  in  a  fringe  of 
almond-eyed,  many-footed  scorpions,  each  with 
a  different  number  of  feet.  With  snakes'  heads 
as  earrings,  a  warrior  with  canine  teeth  smaller 
than  the  snail  with  forked  tongue  beside  him  is 
fishing  for  an  octopus  with  a  snake-line,  whose 

[127] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

head,  as  bait,  has  caught  a  man.  Crab-hands 
grasp  from  ears  at  a  fleeing  figure  with  a  snake- 
like  body,  numerous  feet  intermingle  with  a 
human  leg,  two  arms  with  nippers,  and  a  fan- 
tastic head  with  waving  antennae.  A  cactus 
forms  the  background. 

The  sun  looks  forth  from  the  heart  of  a  star- 
fish. A  fanciful  eye,  all  alone,  with  unknown 
appendages  and  impossible  proboscis,  glitters 
under  its  dark,  lustrous  sheen.  A  ghastly  face 
with  wings  presides  at  a  dance  of  stags.  And 
here  is  a  vessel  completely  covered  by  a  pair  of 
elaborated  nippers!  In  it  are  placed  some  pas- 
sion-flowers, a  whirl  of  purple  and  black. 

Every  uncanny  suggestion  in  an  animal  is 
worked  out  to  complete  development.  We  may 
do  the  Yuncas  the  honor  to  call  it  allegorical. 
It  recalls  the  Mexican  legend  that  "  the  present 
order  of  things  will  be  swept  away,  perhaps  by 
hideous  beings  with  the  faces  of  serpents,  who 
walk  with  one  foot,  whose  heads  are  in  their 
breasts,  whose  huge  hands  serve  as  sunshades, 
and  who  can  fold  themselves  in  their  immense 
ears." 

It  is  primarily  this  portrait  pottery  which 
[128] 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 

proves  the  great  antiquity  of  races  in  Peru. 
And  the  deeper  one  digs,  the  finer  the  designs. 

Sitting  on  the  ebony  bench  with  the  skin  of  a 
jaguar  across  its  back,  we  ate  dulces  (sweets) 
made  of  eggs,  and  drank  tea  out  of  ancient  por- 
celain against  a  background  of  embroidered 
Spanish  shawls.  A  yellow  bird,  a  cheireoque, 
who  knows  everything,  sat  upon  a  perch  but 
did  not  sing. 


in 

Ricardo  Palma,  Peru's  delightful  litterateur, 
has  collected  the  national  library  since  its  de- 
struction by  Chilean  soldiers  in  the  late  war. 
Storekeepers  in  those  days  wrapped  up  their 
goods  in  pages  of  "  fathers  of  the  church." 
The  Chileans  destroyed  the  annals  of  the  In- 
quisition. They  also  killed  the  golden  oriole 
which  had  sung  in  the  trenches  early  one  morn- 
ing before  the  battle  had  begun. 

The  distinguished  writer  of  Peruvian  tradi- 
tions sat  in  his  long  gown,  reading  parchment 
tomes  of  bygone  centuries,  his  silk  cap  pulled 
down  to  his  eyes.  I  sat  near  him  at  a  table 

[129] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF   CONTRASTS 

surrounded  by  books  under  a  far-away  skylight. 
There  happened  to  be  open  a  volume  of  his- 
torical sketches  of  Limaneans  done  in  color  by 
Pancho  Fierro:  a  man  dressed  for  the  gallows 
riding  beneath  balconies  of  interested  ladies; 
monks  and  nuns  in  every  garb;  Indian  dances 
with  whirls  of  color;  the  Lord  Mayor's  proces- 
sion with  his  big  mace  of  silver,  and  black  serv- 
ants in  green  velvet  holding  a  red  umbrella 
over  his  head;  every  known  variety  of  eatable- 
seller;  women  with  bright  green  trousers,  whose 
veils  covered  them  all  but  one  eye,  and  uniforms 
of  every  profession  and  occupation. 

About  the  time  when  the  Puritans  were  land- 
ing in  Massachusetts  Bay,  a  law  was  passed 
prohibiting  ladies  of  Lima  from  covering  the 
face.  The  animals  of  the  coachman  in  whose 
carriage  rode  ladies  violating  this  law  would  be 
confiscated,  and  any  man  who  spoke  to  such  a 
lady  must  pay  a  hundred  pesos.  But  enforce- 
ment of  the  law  was  too  difficult,  and  the  cus- 
tom of  the  veil  persisted  until  a  few  years  since. 

Don  Ricardo  turned  and  put  into  my  hands  a 
book  of  his  own.  The  sun  streamed  through 
the  distant  skylight.  I  began  to  read:  "  Odo- 

[1301 


ANOMALIES    OF   LIMA 

ray  is  the  most  beautiful  blossom  of  the  flower 
garden  of  America,  a  white  lily  scented  with 
the  breath  of  seraphim.  Her  soul  is  an  aeolian 
harp  which  the  sentiment  of  love  causes  to 
vibrate,  and  the  sounds  which  it  exhales  are 
soft  as  the  complaint  of  a  lark. 

"  Odoray  is  fifteen  years  old,  and  her  heart 
cannot  leave  off  throbbing  before  the  image  of 
the  beloved  of  her  soul.  Fifteen  and  not  love 
—  impossible !  At  that  age  love  is  for  the  soul 
what  the  ray  of  spring  sun  is  to  the  meadows. 
Her  lips  have  the  red  of  the  coral,  the  aroma  of 
the  violet.  They  are  a  scarlet  line  above  the 
velvet  of  a  marguerite. 

"  The  faint  tint  of  innocence  and  modesty 
colors  her  face  as  twilight  the  snow  of  our  cor- 
dillera.  The  locks  of  hair  which  fall  in  graceful 
disorder  over  the  ermine  of  her  shoulders,  imi- 
tate the  gold  filaments  which  the  Father  of 
the  Incas  scattered  through  space  on  a  spring 
morning. 

"  Her  voice  is  loving  and  feeling  as  the  echo 
of  the  quena  (flute).  Her  smile  has  all  the 
charm  of  the  wife  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  all 
the  modesty  of  prayer.  Svelte  as  the  sugar-cane 

[131] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

of  our  valleys,  if  the  place  where  it  has  passed 
can  be  recognized,  it  is  not  on  account  of  the 
trace  which  its  short  plant  leaves  in  the  sand, 
but  by  the  perfume  of  angelic  purity  which 
lingers  behind. 

"  It  is  an  afternoon  of  April,  1534.  Twilight 
sheds  its  undivided  gleam  above  the  plains. 
The  sun  taking  off  its  crown  of  topazes  is  about 
to  retire  on  the  bed  of  foam  to  which  the  ocean 
entices  it.  Creation  is  at  this  instant  a  lyre 
letting  fall  soft  sounds.  The  desirous  breeze 
that  passes  giving  a  kiss  to  the  jasmine,  the 
petal  that  falls  jostled  by  the  wings  of  the 
painted  humming-bird,  the  turpial  that  sings  a 
song  of  agony  in  the  aspen  foliage,  the  sun  that 
sets,  firing  the  horizon  ...  all  is  beautiful. 
The  last  hours  of  the  afternoon  and  all  things 
elevate  the  created  toward  the  Creator. 

'  To  hear  in  the  distance  the  soft  murmur 
of  the  brook  slipping  along,  to  feel  that  our 
temples  are  brushed  by  the  zephyr  filled  with 
the  perfume  which  is  exhaled  by  the  flower  of 
the  lemon-tree  and  the  rushy  ground,  and  in 
the  midst  of  this  concert  of  nature  "...  such 
is  the  imagery  of  the  literature  of  Peru. 

[132] 


A    GLIMPSE   OF   OLD  -  FASHIONED    LIMA. 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 


IV 


A  woman  in  lilac  called  Dolores,  a  pretty 
woman  with  a  vapid  face,  was  absent-mindedly 
turning  a  green  glass  globe  between  her  ringers 
and  selling  guavas.  Young  soldiers  whose 
swords  trailed  along  the  pavement  were  eating 
the  guavas. 

We  got  out  of  the  carriage  and  rattled  at  a  door 
until  a  keeper  with  jangling  keys  came  to  open  it. 
The  walls  were  spiked  and  covered  with  broken 
glass.  The  door  banged  together  behind  us. 

A  thin,  delicately  featured  man  in  a  black 
silk  cap  and  stock  came  forward  in  welcome. 
'  The  composer  of  Ollanta,  the  national  opera," 
some  one  introduced.  He  led  us  toward  a  bare 
room  scattered  with  manuscript  music  as  fine 
as  copper-plate.  I  looked  at  the  iron  bars 
across  the  windows.  Over  the  piano  hung  three 
dusty  laurel  wreaths,  the  people's  tribute  to  a 
genius  they  could  not  understand.  After  a 
three  weeks'  presentation  by  an  uncompre- 
hending Italian  troupe,  Lima  demanded  Mi- 
gnon,  and  the  manuscript  opera  was  returned  to 

[133] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

the  upper,  right-hand  drawer  from  which  its 
composer  now  drew  it. 

"  I  am  transcribing  the  melodies  of  the  In- 
dians of  the  highlands,  some  of  them  survivals 
of  Inca  days,"  he  explained. 

He  played  the  weird,  syncopated  music  of 
the  Andes,  bringing  the  indefinable  "  shiver  of 
unknown  rhythm,"  the  wheedling  love-songs 
and  the  sad  yaravis  which  suggested  those  deep 
valleys  lost  among  the  mountain-tops. 

"  You  know  the  yaravi  of  the  Indians?  It  is 
a  peculiar  music,  a  melancholy  idyl  reflecting 
the  somber  Indian  character  —  a  music  of  ex- 
tremes, for  no  other  is  so  dismal  and  so  sweet. 
It  wails  in  a  minor  key  through  strange  Qui- 
chua  words,  the  language  of  the  Indians. 

"  Many  of  these  melodies  I  have  used  un- 
changed. Nothing  so  speaks  to  the  spirit  as 
they.  ...  A  secret  music  like  that  of  falling 
water  —  one  cannot  hear  it  without  thinking 
of  the  riddle  of  the  world.  It  has  a  full,  pent-up 
significance,  as  when  a  bird  puts  all  the  fervor 
of  its  song  into  pianissimo.  It  moves  like  the 
music  of  birds,  and  like  it  does  not  admit  of 
criticism." 

[134] 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 

I  asked  if  the  Indians  sang  unaccompanied. 

"  There  is  sometimes  a  reed-flute  accompani- 
ment," he  said,  "  as  simple  as  the  song.  The 
flute  is  called  a  quena.  Then,  too,  they  play 
upon  a  pipe-of-Pan,  supposed  to  have  persisted 
since  Inca  days.  But  melody  suggests  to  them 
things  far  lovelier  than  they  can  conceive  by 
words.  What  they  wish  to  say  is  made  intel- 
ligible by  the  sadness  or  cheerfulness  of  the 
tune." 

There  is  a  legend  that  a  priest  in  early  Span- 
ish days  loved  a  beautiful  Indian  girl  who  died. 
In  desolation  he  mourned  for  years,  until  he 
dug  up  her  skeleton  and  made  a  flute  out  of  the 
big  leg-bone.  Then  upon  it  he  played  weird, 
sad  tunes  and  was  comforted.  This  is  the 
origin  of  the  human-bone  flute  so  widely  used. 

"  Have  you  ever  heard  of  the  '  Jug  of  Mourn- 
ing? '  he  suddenly  asked.  "  Sometimes  at 
evening  the  Indians  play  on  flutes  inserted  in  a 
large  earthenware  jar  to  make  their  tragic  tones 
more  resonant,  and,  sitting  grouped  around  it 
at  a  little  distance,  they  cry  aloud  and  shed 
tears  for  the  downfall  of  the  race.  The  Indians' 
misfortune  is  infinite  indeed,  but  a  misfortune 

[135] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

terribly  uniform;  and  so  is  their  music.  Yes, 
even  their  suffering  is  consistently  monoto- 
nous." 

I  asked  about  the  libretto  of  Ollanta. 

"  It  is  the  only  one  of  the  great  dramas  deal- 
ing with  exploits  of  kings,  acted  before  the  Inca 
by  young  nobles,  still  told  by  the  people.  Ol- 
lanta was  a  provincial  governor  who  dared  to 
love  a  daughter  of  the  Sun  and  was  commanded 
not  to  raise  his  eyes." 

"  Have  you  had  anything  published?  "  I 
ventured. 

"  This,"  he  said,  handing  me  an  Elegie  bearing 
a  Paris  publisher's  mark. 

II  Could  I  find  it?  " 

"  Oh,  no.  It  was  out  of  print  long  ago.  .  .  . 
Now  I  am  working  at  Atahualpa,  an  opera.  I 
consider  it  by  far  my  greatest  work;  let  me 
show  you,"  and  he  took  some  loose  leaves  from 
a  portfolio. 

He  began  to  play  again.  His  whole  body 
swayed  to  the  spectacular  rhythm.  There  are 
occasions  when  rhythm  is  music,  when  melody 
is  a  refinement  hardly  necessary.  Everything 
in  nature  keeps  time  to  such  a  rhythm.  Noth- 

[136] 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 

ing  can  be  indifferent.  It  turns  a  whole  land- 
scape theatrical.  We  were  whirled  up  into  the 
midst  of  the  frenzied  feather-dance,  and  beyond 
•  into  a  lofty  sky  where  condors  scarce  can 
breathe.  In  the  distance  glittered  the  ice-cold 
puna  cities.  There  is  nothing  I  could  not  do  if 
that  thrilling  moment  could  have  been  indefi- 
nitely prolonged! 

"  But  you  are  interested  in  seeing  the  boys 
at  work,  I  feel  sure,"  he  broke  in. 

The  composer  of  Ollanta  —  sub^manager  of  a 
school  of  correction! 

"  The  boys  are  either  bad  or  abandoned  by 
their  families  at  an  early  age.  They  are  brought 
here  and  taught  trades.  They  do  all  the  work 
of  the  school. 

"  Here  is  their  swimming  pool  and  their 
dormitory.  In  their  schoolroom  you  will  see 
object-lessons  upon  the  walls,  pictures  of  what 
will  befall  them  if  they  are  bad. 

"  The  worst  thing  they  can  do  is  to  run  away. 
They  are  put  into  prison  when  they  return  — 
here,"  and  he  unlocked  a  big  door.  There  were 
four  little  doors  on  each  side  of  a  dark  room. 
Those  on  the  right  opened  into  closets  two  feet 

[137] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

wide  and  six  long,  with  bars  overhead,  all 
painted  black,  "  to  keep  them  from  writing  on 
the  walls,"  he  explained.  When  the  padlock 
was  removed,  the  cubby-holes  on  the  left  were 
opened;  two  feet  square,  black. 

"  Here  they  must  stand." 

I  gasped. 

"  Oh,  yes." 

"  How  long  do  you  keep  them  in  such  a  place? 
Surely  not  over  night?  " 

"  Not  more  than  eight  days." 

"  And  in  the  other  side?  " 

"  Not  over  ninety  days  in  there." 

"  Is  any  one  in  here  now?  " 

"  Yes,  two,"  he  said. 


Certainly  nowhere  in  Peru  are  contrasts  more 
marked  than  in  Lima  of  to-day,  with  its  splen- 
didly carved  balconies  of  former  times,  its  scav- 
enger birds,  and  mud  roofs  strewn  with  ashes; 
its  dim,  candle-lit,  incense-filled  churches  with 
their  leper  windows,  and  its  international  horse- 
racing;  its  collections  of  ancient,  battered,  gold 

[138] 


ANOMALIES    OF    LIMA 

idols,  silver  llamas,  dishes  and  spoons,  and  its 
aeroplane  called  The  Inca! 

Lima  is  a  city  where  bull-fights  are  not  only 
an  amusement  of  the  people,  but  of  the  finest 
and  best  intellects  which  the  country  has  pro- 
duced as  well.  Bull-fighters  with  queues,  gold 
and  silver  embroidery,  lace  fronts,  and  red  silk 
stockings  are  seen  in  the  streets.  Formerly  the 
archbishop,  religious  orders,  and  monks  all 
came  to  the  bull-fights.  The  viceroy,  shouting 
"  Long  live  the  King,"  threw  a  golden  key  into 
the  bull  cage,  and  the  fight  under  most  august 
patronage  began. 

The  market  of  Lima  is  a  picturesque  place: 
Chilean  peppers  (aji),  orange  and  red,  pats  of 
goat's-milk  cheese  in  palm  leaves,  unsalted 
butter  in  green  corn  husks,  piles  of  ripe  olives 
of  various  maroon  hues,  strawberries  in  hand- 
woven  baskets.  Fighting  cocks  glisten  in  the 
intense  sunlight.  Ladies  in  mantillas  float  by, 
closely  followed  by  boy  servants,  their  arms 
full  of  bundles.  Here  and  there  Franciscans 
with  "  sandaled  feet  and  clattering  crucifixes  " 
are  amassing  tribute.  There  are  said  to  be 
about  six  thousand  ecclesiastics  now  in  the  city. 

[139] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Lima  —  with  its  botanical  gardens,  condors 
and  llamas  in  cages,  long  allees  of  royal  palms, 
and  its  cement  tennis  courts  where  English 
people  are  drinking  tea;  its  venerable  univer- 
sity, the  oldest  in  America,  and  its  aimless  daily 
driving  around  and  around  the  Paseo  Colon; 
its  proverbial  milk- women  in  hand- woven  shawls 
among  shining  cans  perched  high  on  ponies, 
and  its  craze  for  art-nouveau;  its  treasuring  of 
Pizarro's  bony  remnant  (which  a  guide  explains 
is  "  completamente  momificato  ")  and  its  earth* 
quake-rooms  of  solid  masonry!  Lima  —  where 
one  discusses  at  some  time  or  another  every- 
thing from  men-of-war  to  tapir-skin  muffs !  Lima 
—  with  its  mediaeval  festivals,  when  priests' 
chanting  fills  the  streets,  incense  rises,  blossoms 
fall,  and  candles  twinkle  in  a  ray  of  sunlight! 
As  the  old  saying  goes:  "  It  were  possible  to  die 
of  hunger  in  Lima,  but  not  to  leave  it." 


[140] 


PART  II 

IN   THE   MOUNTAINS 

"  And  daily  how  through  hardy  enterprise 
Many  great  regions  are  discovered, 
Which  to  late  age  were  never  mentioned, 
Who  ever  heard  of  th'  Indian  Peru? 
Or  who  hi  venturous  vessels  measured 
The  Amazon  huge  river,  now  found  true? 

Why  then  should  witless  man  so  much  misween 
That  nothing  is,  but  that  which  he  hath  seen?  " 

SPENSER 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   HIGH    REGIONS 


No  Peruvian  thinks  of  zones  differing  from 
his  own  as  being  remote  geographical  localities. 
Peru  contains  them  all.  He  does  not  have  to 
travel  over  the  face  of  the  earth  for  a  change  of 
climate,  but  makes  short,  domestic,  vertical 
journeys  instead.  Living  under  his  banana 
groves  among  his  sugar-fields  in  the  lush  coast 
valley,  if  he  feels  need  of  fresher  air,  he  takes  a 
trip  up  to  the  temperate  zone,  where  apple  or- 
chards and  wheat-fields  lie  spread  out  in  a  recess 
of  the  mountains,  and  strawberries  redden  to  per- 
fection. Has  he  curiosity  to  see  an  arctic  storm, 
he  goes  a  little  higher,  coming  out  upon  the 
bitter  table-land  where  crests  of  glaciers  cut  the 
sky. 

The  Andes,  youngest  of  mountains  —  what 
[143] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

a  weirdly  tossed  world!  All  the  most  obscure 
and  harsh  substances  of  the  planet  have  been 
heaped  up  here.  The  rough  places  of  earth 
have  turned  over  and  reached  up  where  they 
brush  against  the  firmament. 

Volcanic  power  has  its  domain  in  these  high 
regions  of  earth,  where  nature  is  in  anarchy, 
possessed  of  unnatural  powers.  It  is  a  great, 
uneasy  wilderness,  where  torrents  rattle  through 
daring  gorges,  only  to  fall  a  thousand  feet, 
scattering  into  a  dust  of  foam.  Icicles  hang 
from  every  joint  between  the  stones. 

It  is  a  colossal,  brutal  land,  fresh  from  the 
cataclysm,  whose  ponderous  masses  of  rock  are 
all  sterile  from  cold,  all  silent  under  perpetual 
snow.  In  its  clearness  of  atmosphere  sparkles 
a  new  conception  of  the  night-time  sky.  It  is 
a  land  where  thin  layers  of  lichens  are  the  only 
trace  of  plant  life,  where  condors  wheel  about 
the  highest  pinnacles,  and  silver  lies  buried 
deep  in  the  ground.  It  is  the  lair  of  mercury- 
mines  which  paralyze  those  working  in  them, 
where  hot  and  cold  fountains  mingle  to  make 
one  river,  where  springs  of  tar  and  rivers  of 
peat  ooze  from  suffocation  within. 

[144] 


A  TRESTLE  OF  THE  HIGHEST  RAILWAY  IX  THE  WORLD,  ACROSS  THE  /.V 

FIERSILLO. 


THE    HIGH    REGIONS 

Hot  from  their  passage  through  the  glowing 
veins  of  the  mountains,  springs  bubble  into  life, 
sour,  turbid,  saturated  with  gases,  possessed  of 
weird  powers,  capable  of  giving  life  as  well  as 
of  taking  it  away.  Their  waters  turn  to  stone 
as  they  spread  over  the  plain.  In  this  frozen 
waste  of  glaciers,  sheltering  fire  and  magnetic 
iron  within,  all  forces  and  elements  are  seething, 
though  shrouded  with  snow.  As  the  noise  of 
water  fills  the  desert,  so  the  roar  of  fire  can  be 
heard  among  the  frozen  mountain-tops. 

Long,  long  ago,  a  volcano  was  puffing  out 
asphyxiating  fumes.  It  melted  the  metal  on 
the  edge  of  its  crater,  and  turned  rocks  burst 
from  its  own  black  mouth-pit  to  red  and  yellow 
and  green.  Fire  boiled  over  the  edge  and  ad- 
vanced in  a  tide  of  flame  down  the  mountain- 
side and  into  the  valleys.  The  favorites  of  the 
Sun  who  lived  beside  it  complained  to  him  of 
the  ruin  caused  by  the  volcano.  Somewhat 
irritated  himself,  he  "  smothered  the  genius  of 
devastation  in  his  lair,"  covering  the  top  of  the 
mountain  with  an  impenetrable  cap  of  snow, 
leaving  little,  seraphic  blue  lakes  here  and 
there  upon  it  as  a  hostage.  This  frozen  giant, 

[145] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

whose  entrails  the  fire  is  devouring,  still  lies 
sleeping  with  his  granite  dreams. 

When  all  the  beneficent  qualities  inherent  in 
a  world  have  been  wrested  from  it,  and  life  has 
disappeared  toward  experiences  elsewhere,  or 
when  a  comet's  tail  has  swished  life  suddenly 
away,  a  wilderness  like  that  of  the  high  Andes 
would  result  —  a  place  where  chaos  and  disorder 
is  the  only  rule.  Yet  the  law  of  chaos  we  must 
believe  is  no  law  at  all. 

Stretched  among  these  mountains  is  the  vast 
table-land  called  puna,  on  which  flourished  the 
Indian  civilizations  so  famous  in  history.  Abun- 
dant rain  falls,  but  cold  prevents  it  from  cover- 
ing the  ground  with  flowers.  Reveling  in  the 
high  pressure  of  the  mountain-tops,  humming- 
birds flit  about  in  the  snow.  The  finest  morning 
begets  the  heaviest  afternoon  clouds,  and  warm 
atmospheric  currents,  quite  definitely  confined 
in  the  cold  air,  travel  through  the  desolation. 

The  wind,  seeming  to  tear  up  the  ground  and 
pulverize  the  summits,  is  unable  to  dissipate  a 
mist  which  magnifies  the  rocks  and  presents  the 
traveler's  giant  shadow  with  a  whole  system  of 
concentric  rainbow  halos  —  his  apotheosis  in 

[146] 


THE    HIGH   REGIONS 

the  clouds.  The  wind  brings  with  it  cold  clouds 
of  dust  laid  only  by  a  fresh  fall  of  snow.  It 
mummifies  the  beasts  of  burden  which  fall  by 
the  way.  Mirages,  too,  the  escort  of  tropical 
heat,  shimmer  upon  these  arctic  plains. 

With  all  the  paraphernalia  of  the  torrid  zone, 
limitless  vagaries  of  torrid  force  which  knows 
no  law  of  custom,  the  puna  has  no  enjoyment 
of  it.  For  the  cold  seems  also  to  have  taken  on 
the  exuberance  of  tropical  nature. 

You  may  lose  your  way  in  a  snow-storm ;  or 
in  the  hot  and  stifling  valleys,  where  the  trop- 
ical sun  can  concentrate,  you  may  die  of  the  bite 
of  a  venomous  serpent.  Parched  by  fever- 
thirst,  you  may  not  drink  the  water,  for  it  brings 
varieties  of  diseases,  bounded  by  their  valleys' 
walls. 

Your  mule  may  sink  into  a  morass  or  break 
his  leg  in  a  viscacha  burrow.  He  may  eat  a 
poisonous  mala  yerba  or  garbanzillos.  Broadly 
laden,  he  may  be  scraped  off  a  bridle-path 
clinging  to  the  sheer  precipice.  He  may  be 
carried  away  by  the  swift  current  of  a  glacier 
stream  in  attempting  to  ford  it.  He  may  col- 

[147] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

lapse  from  lack  of  air  and  leave  you  stranded  in 
a  lifeless  desert.  Soroche-sick  and  burned  to  a 
crisp  by  the  relentless  cold,  you  urge  on  the 
staggering  mule  as  he  stops  constantly  to  gulp 
the  thin  air.  He  cannot  be  satisfied,  although 
he  has  a  second  set  of  nostrils  cut  through  to 
ease  his  breathing  and  avert  soroche. 

Still  the  glaciers  crawl  down  from  brooding 
peaks  above.  The  sun,  magician  of  the  bleak 
mountain  regions,  comes  out  and  glints  green 
on  broken  strata  of  the  red  mountains.  It  dis- 
covers all  the  bright  colors  in  the  hills  of  por- 
phyry and  clothes  them  with  fresh  shadows.  It 
runs  along  a  vein  of  shining  mica  to  accuse  it. 
It  plunges  into  the  middle  of  a  lake  of  polished 
jet  settled  in  the  snow,  "  making  a  great,  golden 
hole." 

^A  single  hill  in  sunlight  glows  with  streaks  of 
iris-color,  matching  the  rainbow  forms  as  they 
appear  above  and  fade  again.  Little  cloud  islets 
surround  far-off  peaks,  sunk  beneath  the  hori- 
zon. Pyramids  of  ice  twinkle,  and  fantastic 
stone  needles  stand  in  rows  too  precipitous  for 
snow  to  cling  to  their  bare  sides.  They  are 
called  early  inhabitants,  which  Pachacamac  in 

[148] 


THE    HIGH    REGIONS 

his  anger  turned  to  stone.  The  air,  though 
thin  almost  to  disappearance,  cuts  like  a  razor- 
edge. 

With  eyelashes  frozen  together,  you  can  yet 
be  sunstruck.  Teeth  to  teeth,  cold  and  heat 
meet  upon  "  the  waste,  chaotic  battlefield  of 
Frost  and  Fire."  Cold  is  besieged  in  vain  by 
the  sun  at  its  hottest.  This  land  of  silent 
chaos  takes  on  the  cold  of  outer  space  so 
near  by,  which,  shot  through  by  the  fierce 
heat  of  the  sun,  is  incapable  of  absorbing  any 
warmth. 

The  magical  sun,  dispelling  somewhat  the 
mountain-sickness,  only  brings  with  it  another, 
even  worse.  For  blazing  across  the  snow-fields 
in  its  tropical  fury,  surumpe  follows,  snow-blind- 
ness, cured  only  by  fresh  vicuna  flesh  laid  upon 
the  eyes,  so  the  Indians  say. 

The  over-arching  vault  is  indigo.  Desolation 
is  brightened  by  a  radiant  light,  infinitely  at- 
tenuated, "  diaphanous  as  the  starry  void."  It 
caresses  the  bristling  scenery.  It  penetrates 
caverns  and  fills  them  with  a  gold  and  purple 
mist.  In  the  world  of  light  and  shade  which  it 
creates,  even  the  shade  gives  light.  Upon 

[149] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

water,  the  light,  startled  by  its  own  reflection, 
sparkles  and  dances  and  leaps. 

Words  give  no  idea  of  the  brilliancy  of  the 
snow  on  the  crests  of  the  Andes,  because  there 
are  no  words  made  of  sunlight  and  crystals: 
luminous,  empyreal  snowshine,  shattered  by 
the  sun  now  and  then  into  rainbow  colors.  As 
silence  is  perfect  only  because  it  has  the  possi- 
bility of  being  broken  at  any  instant  by  a  gi- 
gantic crash,  so  whiteness  is  the  emblem  of 
perfect  purity  only  because  the  possibility  of 
all  color  lies  within. 

He  who  has  not  galloped  across  an  Andean 
puna  chased  by  a  tempest,  has  not  known  the 
full,  wild  force  of  the  elements.  Lost  in  a  whirl 
of  lightning,  wind,  and  snow,  his  mule,  mad- 
dened by  electricity  snapping  off  the  ends  of 
his  ears,  dashes  from  the  thunder  chasing  at 
arms'  length.  Red  lightning  zigzags  between 
the  summits.  Blood-red  cataracts  tumble  over 
the  volcanic  crags.  Huge  pieces  of  rock  break 
loose  and  crash  from  the  cliffs.  Deep  furrows 
are  ripped  up,  following  the  lightning  as  it  runs 
along  close  to  the  ground. 

Lack  of  air  and  bitter  cold  are  forgotten. 
[150] 


THE    HIGH    REGIONS 

Each  flash  acts  like  a  fresh  whip-sting  to  the 
mule.  The  compass  snaps  against  its  box. 
Magnetic  sand  leaps  into  the  air  and  flies  about 
in  sheets.  The  rocks  seem  ablaze,  the  whole  sky 
is  on  fire.  The  atmosphere  quivers  with  unin- 
terrupted peals,  smothered  in  the  gorges  of 
granite,  buffeted  by  the  mountainsides,  torn 
apart  by  the  high  peaks,  till,  finally  overtaking 
each  other,  they  are  confounded  in  a  mighty 
burst  of  thunder  that  breaks  loose  in  the  sky, 
and  in  a  cosmic  roar  reverberates  against  the 
nothingness  of  outer  space. 

Then  the  sun  slowly  settles  in  calm.  The 
striped  walls  flare  in  the  sunset  light,  flamboyant 
as  the  bang  of  brass  mortars  in  pagan  idolatry. 
The  mountains  shine  from  base  to  summit,  while 
"  the  night,  grazing  the  soil  and  step  by  step 
raising  its  wide  flight,  —  the  dying  light,  fleeing 
from  crest  to  crest,  makes  the  most  sublime 
summit  resplendent,  until  the  shadow  covers 
all  with  its  wing." 

All  vague  sounds  subside  into  an  "  excess  of 
silence." 

The  last  incandescent  peak  shines,  and  goes 
out. 

[151] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 


II 


How  appropriate  it  is  that  quicksilver,  a  liq- 
uid heaviest  of  metals,  should  come  from  this 
land  of  contrast.  The  most  elusive  product  of 
a  mysterious  country,  imperceptibly  by  fumes 
it  enters  the  nostrils  of  those  who  seek  it,  either 
destroying  their  teeth  or  disintegrating  their 
limbs;  a  metal  which,  becoming  mere  vapor, 
is  again  transformed  by  a  sudden  chill  to  metal ; 
though  it  rises  as  steam,  it  falls  as  quicksilver. 
Pliny  calls  it  the  poison  of  all  things,  the  ' '  eter- 
nal sweat,"  since  nothing  can  consume  it.  To 
the  Incas  it  remained  a  mystery,  for  although 
its  "  quick  and  lively  motions  "  were  admired, 
its  search,  being  harmful  to  the  seeker,  was 
forbidden.  They  did,  however,  use  the  ver- 
milion found  with  it:  handsome  women  streaked 
their  temples  with  vermilion. 

Silver  also  is  born  in  certain  cold  and  solitary 
deserts  of  the  mountain-tops,  melted  by  sub- 
terranean fires  within  its  deep  veins.  Silver 
being  the  only  produce  of  the  soil,  the  neces- 
sities of  life  have  to  be  brought  from  afar.  It 

[152] 


THE    HIGH    REGIONS 

seems  as  if  the  vigor  that  vegetation  would 
absorb  goes  into  the  silver. 

The  mountain-tops  are  full  of  legends  of  mine 
discoveries  usually  intertwined  with  romance. 
Greedy  lovers  have  sacrificed  their  love  for  a 
mine,  and  many  are  the  mines  filled  with  re- 
vengeful floods.  Huira  Capcha,  a  shepherd  who 
had  been  guarding  his  flocks  near  Cerro  de 
Pasco,  awoke  one  day  to  find  the  stone  beneath 
the  ashes  of  his  fire  turned  to  silver. 

It  is  told  in  connection  with  the  mine  of 
Huancayo  that  an  Indian  friend  gave  a  Fran- 
ciscan monk  a  bag  of  silver  ore.  The  eager 
friar  wished  to  know  where  more  could  be 
found.  The  Indian  consented  to  show  him, 
but  blindfolded  the  friar,  who  took  the  pre- 
caution to  drop  a  bead  of  his  rosary  here  and 
there  as  he  went  along.  When  at  last  the 
monk  stood  marveling  at  the  bright  masses 
of  silver,  his  Indian  friend  gave  him  a  handful 
of  unstrung  beads.  "  Father,"  he  said,  "  you 
dropped  your  rosary  on  the  way!  " 

In  1545,  an  Indian  called  Hualpa  was  pur- 
suing a  vicuna  up  the  mountainside.  He 
grasped  at  the  bushes  as  he  scrambled  up  a 

[153] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

steep  cliff.  One  came  up  by  the  roots,  which 
were  hung  with  globules  of  silver.  That  par- 
ticular vicuna  hunt  took  place  on  a  mountain 
called  Potosi.  The  discoverer  of  the  mine  of 
Potosi  was  murdered  by  a  Spaniard  named 
Villarroel,  who  became  its  proprietor.  The 
murder  was  an  unnecessary  precaution,  how- 
ever, since  a  mysterious  voice  had  commanded 
the  Indians  to  take  no  silver  from  this  hill, 
which  was  destined  for  other  owners.  From 
that  romantic  mountain  has  flowed  far  "  more 
silver  than  from  all  the  mines  of  Mexico." 
"  Prior  to  1593  the  royal  fifth  had  been  paid 
on  three  hundred  and  ninety-six  millions  of 
silver."  The  only  difficulty  the  Spaniards  en- 
countered was  in  finding  water  enough  to  wash 
the  silver.  The  hills  about  Potosi  gleamed 
with  as  many  as  six  thousand  little  fires,  smelt- 
ing furnaces  belching  horrid  odors,  scattering 
liquid  silver  pellets.  They  had  to  be  carried 
where  the  wind  blew,  sometimes  higher  up  and 

sometimes  lower  down. 

/ 

So  this  splendid  Imperial.  City  grew  up  in 
the  subtle  air,  varied  by  icy  winds  and  storm. 
The  extraction  of  its  prodigious  wealth  was  a 

[1541 


THE    HIGH    REGIONS 

means  of  torture  to  those  who  worked  in  con- 
tinual darkness  without  knowledge  of  day  or 
night. 

Yet,  even  among  the  tops  of  the  Andes,  living 
things  are  adjusted  to  their  environment,  queer 
little  animals  of  the  heights  giving  the  only 
human  atmosphere  there  is.  Leaping  viscachas, 
with  cat-like  tails,  carve  through  the  frozen 
ground  village  burrows  made  to  last  forever, 
treacherous  pitfalls  for  a  traveler's  mule.  With 
the  finest,  silkiest  fur,  valued  by  even  the 
Incas,  chinchillas  sit  in  the  shadows,  never  in 
the  sun.  They  appear  suddenly  on  the  steep 
cliffs  at  dusk  and  nibble  stiff  grasses;  then  dis- 
appear like  magic,  leaving  little  chains  of  foot- 
prints in  the  snow.  A  small  toad  inhabits  the 
boundaries  of  perpetual  snow,  and  a  nice  little 
plant  called  maca  has  its  best  flavor  only  above 
an  altitude  of  thirteen  thousand  feet,  where  all 
flavoring  ingredients  have  long  been  left  behind. 

The  wild  gazelle  of  the  Andes,  with  fur  the 
color  of  dried  roses,  the  graceful  vicuna,  crea- 
ture of  quickness  and  flight,  lives  upon  the 
coldest  heaths  and  in  the  most  secluded  fast- 
nesses of  the  mighty  Andes  and  seldom  de- 

[155] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

scends  below  the  limit  of  perpetual  snow.  His 
back,  burned  tawny  by  the  tropical  sun,  is 
covered  with  snow. 

Far  in  the  distance  a  flock  is  grazing.  The 
single  male  stands  near  by  upon  a  rock.  A 
foreign  sight  or  sound,  a  quick  movement  of 
his  foot,  a  short,  shrill  whistle  vibrating  through 
the  clear,  puna  air,  a  flash  of  golden  brown, 
and  the  whole  flock  is  lost  in  the  wilderness  of 
rocks,  fleeing  miles  without  stopping.  It  is 
said  that  if  the  male  is  wounded,  the  females 
surround  him,  allowing  themselves  to  be  shot 
down  rather  than  leave. 

The  vicuna  defies  pursuit  or  capture  and  dis- 
appears at  the  first  glimpse  of  intruders,  driving 
the  young  before  him.  He  is  no  less  wild  than 
in  the  days  when  he  was  royal  purveyor  of 
softest  fabric  to  the  Incas'  wardrobes.  His 
habits  are  as  elusive  now  as  then,  when  Indians 
thirty  thousand  strong  entrapped  the  wild 
animals  among  the  mountain- tops.  These  sol- 
emn huntings  took  place  every  fourth  year. 
Meanwhile  the  wise  men  kept  account  of  the 
flocks  with  colored  threads,  so-called  quipus, 
their  method  of  enumeration. 

[156] 


I 


THE    HIGH    REGIONS 

Cousins  of  the  vicuna  are  the  awkward  hua- 
nacus,  which  drink  brackish  water  as  gladly  as 
fresh  and  seek  a  favorite  valley  where  they 
may  breathe  their  last  and  pile  up  their  accu- 
mulated bones  —  as  sea-lions  go  to  particular 
islands  to  die,  the  wounded  being  helped  thither 
by  companions.  The  Incas  worshipped  the 
llama,  alpaca,  and  these  wild  relatives  of  theirs ; 
they  carved  their  grotesque  forms  in  stone 
and  fashioned  their  likeness  in  gold  and  silver 
for  household  gods. 

Far  above  the  limit  of  human  life,  even  be- 
yond the  haunts  of  vicunas,  there  is  still  one 
living  creature.  His  shadow  sweeps  over 
the  wilderness  as  he  passes  between  it  and 
the  sun  —  a  shadow  the  only  appearance  of 
life.  It  is  the  condor,  who  lays  her  white  eggs 
on  the  bare  rock  of  the  loftiest  mountain  peaks 
and  knows  where  the  heart  of  each  animal  lies. 

The  mighty  condor,  who  can  kill  an  ox  with 
his  beak  of  steel,  who  can  swallow  a  sheep  or 
exist  a  month  without  food. 

The  majestic  condor,  who  swims  in  the  high- 
est air  or  sweeps  down  upon  his  prey  with  a 
deafening  whir  of  wings. 

[157] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

The  condor,  a  symbol  of  light,  who  circles  up 
to  the  ether  of  outer  space  on  an  almost  imper- 
ceptible, tremulous  motion,  or  proceeds  undis- 
turbed, without  effort  or  nutter  of  wings,  in 
the  icy  teeth  of  a  tempest,  a  symbol  of  storm. 

He  watches  the  sun  rise  over  a  continent- 
jungle,  glimmering  with  heat  and  dampness, 
and  long  after  the  sunset  glow  has  faded  from 
the  highest  snowy  peak,  he  sees  its  fiery  ball 
drop  beyond  the  farthest  edge  of  the  Pacific. 

The  fabulous  condor,  known  in  Europe  when 
Peru  was  a  myth,  a  hostage  from  a  fairyland 
of  gold  and  silver;  a  griffin  which  revels  in 
solitude  and  in  evidences  of  things  gone  by. 

Loneliness  is  the  condor's  only  friend. 

The  wind  howls  through  his  broadened  wings. 


[158] 


CHAPTER  II 

A    MEGALITHIC   CITY  AND   A   SACRED  LAKE 


THERE  is  something  more  mysterious  than 
the  sea,  and  that  is  the  desert;  something  more 
mysterious  than  the  desert,  and  that  is  the 
mountains;  something  more  mysterious  than 
the  mountains,  and  that  is  the  jungle.  Yet 
there  is  something  with  a  deeper  mystery  than 
all  —  the  tradition  of  a  great  race  that  has 
struggled  to  a  climax  and  subsided. 

Where  is  there  a  more  unbridled  ocean? 
Where  a  more  pitiless  desert?  Where  other 
Andes?  Where  so  limitless  a  jungle?  And 
where,  in  the  history  of  the  whole  world,  so 
picturesque  a  dynasty  —  whose  god  was  the 
Sun,  whose  insignia  the  rainbow,  who  dwelt  in 
houses  lined  with  gold,  who  tamed  the  earth's 
resources  so  that  their  aqueducts  in  a  rainless 

[159] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

land  are  still  ministering  to  the  descendants  of 
a  people  who  destroyed  them,  and  who  left  not 
one  written  word  to  testify  that  they  had  ever 
been  created  at  all. 

What  can  be  said  of  the  Incas,  the  theme  of 
romance  ever  since  the  greed  of  the  Spaniard 
reduced  them  to  a  legend  —  romances  pale 
indeed  beside  facts  recorded  by  sober  histori- 
ans? A  people  who  used  copper  for  iron, 
quipus  for  writing,  llamas  for  horses;  who  sac- 
rificed condors  and  humming-birds  to  their  gods 
on  the  frozen  plains;  whose  accumulations  of 
precious  metals  exceeded  stories  of  Ophir's 
wealth;  whose  ears  were  enlarged  that  they 
might  better  hear  the  complaints  of  the  op- 
pressed, and  who  were  brought  to  destruction 
by  a  handful  of  adventurers  whom  the  whole 
training  of  the  people  had  led  them  to  worship 
as  gods. 

Yet  the  Incas  were  only  the  final  stage  in  a 
series  of  races  that  flourished  on  the  heights  of 
Peru  back  through  the  ages.  They  were  but 
the  last  flicker  of  a  guttering  civilization  with- 
out a  name,  which  has  left  only  a  few  silent 
ruins  built  by  unknown  peoples,  of  whom  these 

[160] 


A    MEGALITHIC    CITY 

"  symptoms  of  architecture  "  reveal  to  us  the 
forgotten  existence.  The  mystery  that  fires  our 
imagination  in  contemplating  the  Incas  had 
shrouded  their  predecessors  from  them  with  an 
impenetrable  veil. 

Humboldt  once  remarked  that  the  problem 
of  the  first  population  of  America  is  no  more 
the  province  of  history  than  questions  on  the 
origin  of  plants  and  animals  are  part  of  natural 
science.  In  considering  this  megalithic  age,  we 
have  to  do  with  pure  speculation,  not  with  any 
legitimate  domain  of  knowledge.  Learned  treat- 
ises end  only  with  a  question.  Dr.  Bingham 
has  recently  discovered  among  these  mountains 
glacial  human  bones,  possibly  twenty  thousand 
to  forty  thousand  years  old.  They  may  shed 
new  light  upon  the  identity  of  the  makers  of 
those  mysterious  terraces  which  appear  coeval 
with  the  creation  of  the  world. 

Vestiges  of  past  civilizations  are  everywhere 
about,  "  monuments  which  themselves  memo- 
rials need;  "  terraces  hollowed  out  of  the  moun- 
tains to  the  very  summits,  bits  of  stone  walls, 
roads,  aqueducts,  or  an  occasional  stone  idol 
with  a  shallow  vessel  for  the  blood  of  victims, 

[161] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

perhaps  a  staring  face  on  a  pillar  with  project- 
ing tusks  and  snakes  intertwined  on  its  cheeks. 

Tiahuanacu  was  made  by  a  race  which  as  far 
antedates  the  Incas  as  they  the  dominant  race 
to  come.  Everything  to  do  with  it  is  remote 
and  forgotten.  Of  necessity  even  its  name  is 
modern,  having  been  given  by  the  Inca  Yu- 
panqui  to  his  "  resting-place."  The  great  pil- 
lars of  the  City  of  the  Phoenix  rise  from  the 
roof  of  the  world,  "  as  strong  and  as  freshly 
new  as  the  day  when  they  were  raised  upon 
these  frozen  heights  by  means  which  are  a 
mystery."  Single  stones  measure  thirty  feet  in 
length.  Heads  of  huge  statues  lie  about  and 
hard  black  stones  difficult  to  hew,  the  corners 
as  sharp  as  when  chiseled  before  the  memory 
of  man.  Niches  and  doorways  are  cut  from 
the  middle  of  single  blocks,  whose  corners  are 
perfect  right  angles. 

Many  finely  sculptured  stones  are  now  used 
for  grinding  chocolate,  some  of  the  larger  ones 
for  making  railroads.  Prehistoric  idols  lean  as 
doorkeepers  against  flimsy,  modern  walls  in  the 
almost  deserted  modern  town,  and  one  weird 

[162] 


A   MEGALITHIC    CITY 

face  has  found  its  way  as  far  as  the  Alameda 
in  La  Paz.  Beyond  the  protecting  opening  of 
a  still  perfect  monolith  lies  the  burial-place  for 
still-born  Christian  children. 

A  monolithic  doorway,  beautifully  sculp- 
tured, lies  broken  in  two  by  lightning.  A  square- 
headed,  legless,  impenetrable  god,  speaking 
from  right-angled  lips,  still  stares  from  behind 
his  square  eyelids.  Weeping  three  square  tears 
from  each  eye,  he  surveys  the  waste  and  deso- 
lation about  him,  just  as  he  looked  unmoved 
upon  the  golden  pageants  of  Inca  days  that  did 
him  honor  as  a  superhuman  deity  who  had 
sprung  into  being  in  one  night  with  a  whole 
city  about  him.  His  hands  wield  snaky-necked 
scepters,  each  the  head  of  a  condor,  the  light- 
ning bird;  and  rows  of  square  little  worship- 
pers in  wings  and  condor-fringes  kneel  beneath 
crowns  of  rays  fading  off  into  the  heads  of  birds 
with  reversed  combs. 

No  one  yet  knows  the  meaning  of  the  sculp- 
tured deity  which  confused  Inca  amautas  (wise 
men)  a  thousand  years  ago.  Though  the 
Creator  is  supposed  to  have  lived  in  Tiahuanacu, 
an  eminent  German,  Rudolph  Falb,  says  the 

[163] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

weeping  god  is  a  hero  of  the  flood,  his  tears  the 
symbol  of  the  deluge. 

A  tradition  of  the  sixteenth  century  ascribes 
these  monuments  to  an  age  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  sun  in  the  heavens.  Their  builders 
were  destroyed  by  a  flood  sent  by  the  wrathful 
god,  Con  Tici  Uiracocha,  who  came  from  the 
south,  converting  "  heights  into  plains  and 
plains  into  tall  heights,  causing  springs  to  flow 
out  of  bare  rocks."  Half  in  regret  that  he  had 
destroyed  his  race  of  men,  he  created  sun  and 
moon  to  render  visible  the  waste  he  had 
made. 

This  information  is  as  accurate  and  authentic 
as  any  which  a  long  line  of  distinguished  ex- 
plorers and  archeologists  have  been  able  to  sub- 
stitute for  it.  Men  of  sane  judgment  agree  in 
admitting  that  there  is  nothing  to  justify  any 
conclusion.  But  they  also  agree  that  the  sig- 
nificance of  Tiahuanacu  exceeds  everything 
hitherto  discovered  in  Peru.  It  recalls  Carnac 
and  Philae.  It  stands  with  the  dolmens  of 
Brittany,  Stonehenge,  and  the  cyclopean  ter- 
races of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  as  a  great  riddle 
of  human  history. 

[164] 


A   GOD  OF  TIAHUANACU. 


A   MEGALITHIC    CITY 

ii 

Dropped  in  the  bottom  of  yawning  red  gulfs, 
with  snow-peaks  glistening  overhead,  are  wild 
valleys  of  differing  climates,  the  mighty  que- 
bradas  of  the  Andes.  These  canyons,  which  the 
famous  hanging  bridges  used  to  span,  intersect 
the  wilderness.  They  lie  in  dusk  while  the  over- 
arching cliffs  are  bathed  in  full  sunlight,  for 
sunrise  and  sunset  are  within  a  few  hours  of 
each  other.  The  warm  air,  steaming  upward, 
pushes  the  snow  boundary  far  above.  Strata 
of  black  sand  on  the  valley's  walls  have  been 
tunneled  by  cave-dwellers  of  ancient  times. 
French  sisters  of  charity  move  about  in  cloisters 
under  eucalyptus  trees. 

Such  a  surprise  is  Yucay,  tucked  in  snugly 
between  two  mountains,  wrapped  in  soft  air 
and  scents  of  unknown  flowers,  the  loveliest 
spot  in  all  the  empire  of  the  Incas.  Streams  of 
clear  water  descend  to  it  from  above  and  form 
the  smooth,  deep  river  of  Yucay.  The  Incas 
sought  it  out  for  their  gardens  of  pleasure  and 
were  lulled  to  rest  by  bells  of  gold  tied  to  the 
hammocks  in  which  they  slept. 

[165] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Water  has  a  very  tranquillizing  effect.  It 
sweeps  along  a  valley,  and  the  jagged  remnants 
of  volcanic  action  are  smoothed  out  into  long 
undulating  lines. 

Water  collects  in  all  crevices;  lakes  green  as 
iron  vitriol,  fed  by  subterranean  springs,  lie  in 
the  surly  country  like  jewels  in  their  setting. 
When  night  shadows  have  settled  in  the  val- 
leys, the  alpine  glow  is  reflected  in  the  quiet 
surface. 

There  are  no  fish  in  the  lake  of  Chinchay- 
cocha,  Laguna  de  Reyes.  Though  their  element 
is  water  and  they  die  in  air,  here  they  die  in 
pure  water  for  lack  of  air.  The  ingahuallpa 
sings  a  monotonous  note  from  the  bank  at  the 
close  of  every  hour  during  the  night.  The  out- 
let of  the  lake  is  narrow  and  deep,  and  its  clear 
water  flows  smoothly  and  without  noise. 

All  the  lakes  have  their  secrets.  The  little 
lake  of  Orcos  still  holds  the  golden  chain  with 
links  wrist-thick  made  by  Huayna  Ccapac  at  the 
birth  of  his  eldest  son.  It  encompassed  the 
market-place  of  Cuzco.  It  was  so  weighty  that 
"  two  hundred  Indians  having  seized  the  links 
of  it  to  the  rings  in  their  ears  were  scarce  able 

[1661 


A   MEGALITHIC    CITY 

to  raise  it  from  the  ground."  After  the  coming 
of  the  Spaniards,  it  was  thrown  for  safe-keeping 
into  this  round,  deep  pool  filled  by  unknown 
springs.  Safe  indeed  it  is.  Orcos  has  not  given 
up  its  charge,  though  repeated  attempts  have 
been  made  to  reach  the  bottom.  Trying  to 
drain  it  by  a  sluice  and  trench,  the  Spaniards 
"  unhappily  crossed  upon  a  vein  of  hard  rock, 
at  which,  pecking  a  long  time,  they  found  that 
they  struck  more  fire  out  of  it  than  they  drew 
water" — the  opposite  element  from  the  one 
they  expected. 

Up  against  the  sky  lies  a  sea  where  men  sail 
in  boats  of  grass  —  Lake  Titicaca,  where  ships 
are  silently  struck  by  lightning  without  crash 
of  thunder.  On  these  high  seas  the  navigator 
has  to  go  by  instinct,  because  of  the  loadstone 
round  about  —  magnetic  iron,  it  is  now  less 
picturesquely  called.  Saint  Elmo's  fire  blazes 
from  ships'  masts  on  stormy  nights.  Sometimes 
a  pointed  tongue  of  black  clouds  swings  from 
above,  "  like  the  trunk  of  some  gigantic  ele- 
phant searching  the  ground."  A  similar  one 
raises  itself  from  the  surface  of  the  water,  slap- 
ping back  and  forth,  seeking  the  point  of  the 

[167] 


PERU,  A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

tongue  above,  and  when  they  have  found  each 
other,  they  join  in  a  mighty,  black  column,  out 
of  which  burst  thunder  and  lightning.  It 
whirls  off  everything  within  reach  and  sucks 
down  a  passing  balsa  (boat  of  reeds)  into  a 
depth  never  sounded. 

The  water  of  Lake  Titicaca  is  ice-cold  and 
brackish.  Its  strangely  fashioned  fishes  never 
come  to  the  surface.  It  is  inhabited  by  great 
animals  like  sea-cows,  occasionally  seen  resting 
on  a  beach  of  some  remote  inlet.  The  grottoes 
along  the  shore  are  guarded  by  gray  and  black 
night  herons  and  inhabited  by  the  sea-cow  or 
other  monsters! 

Queer  birds  haunt  the  wide  stretches  of  totora 
growing  along  the  shore,  reeds  whose  stems  are 
used  for  making  boats,  and  whose  tips  are  used 
as  salad.  Here  live  the  stately  puna  geese, 
dazzling  white,  with  green  wings  shading  into 
violet;  black  water-hens,  white  quinlla,  dark 
green  yanahuico  with  long,  thin,  bent  bills, 
finely  etched  ducks,  ibises,  lidi,  metallically 
bright,  and  sea-gulls  from  the  Atlantic. 

Coal  is  found  on  the  shores  of  Titicaca,  which 
suggests  a  mystery.  At  what  elevation  could 

[168] 


A   MEGALITHIC    CITY 

tropical  coal  plants  grow?  The  bones  of  mas- 
todons are  also  here.  But  rocks  even  higher  up 
are  smoothed  as  if  by  waves,  and  beaches  are 
found  like  those  of  the  actual  sea.  Both  Hum- 
boldt  and  Darwin  found  shells,  once  crawling 
on  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  now  embedded  four- 
teen thousand  feet  above  its  level. 

Small  lakes  are  sources  of  small  rivers,  by 
which  they  are  emptied.  But  great  Titicaca 
forms  no  stream  at  all.  Its  outlet  has  no  out- 
let of  its  own.  The  rush  of  nauseous  water  is 
poured  into  a  shallow  lake-twin  not  far  away 
—  Poopo,  through  whose  mysterious  whirl- 
pools the  water  drops  back  again  in  subterra- 
nean escapes.  This  tumultuous  torrent,  the 
Desaguadero,  was  spanned  in  former  days  by 
a  bridge  of  reeds. 

Recent  measurements  show  that  the  level  of 
these  two  lakes  is  constantly  lowering,  and 
eventually  they  will  disappear.  They  were  once 
the  source  of  the  greatest  river  in  the  world, 
but  some  day  there  will  be  only  a  salty  deposit 
in  the  hollows  they  now  fill. 

Titi,  the  cat,  kaka,  the  rock,  Lake  Titicaca 
was  named  for  a  little  island  within  it,  around 

[169] 


PERU,  A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

which  cluster  legends  of  the  origins  of  things. 
It  was  the  most  revered  shrine  in  the  empire 
of  the  Incas.  Neither  the  wide  fields  of  Chita, 
where  the  flocks  of  the  Sun  gamboled,  nor  the 
valley  of  Yucay  could  equal  this  enchanted  isle 
of  Titicaca. 

Before  the  arrival  of  man,  the  island  was  in- 
habited by  a  tiger,  carrying  on  its  head  a  mag- 
nificent ruby,  whose  light  illuminated  the  whole 
lake  as  the  afterglow  the  snow-covered  peaks 
above.  The  Hawaiians  have  an  expression  for 
the  shifting  of  colors  in  a  rainbow.  The  Indians 
on  Lake  Titicaca  have  special  words  for  the 
glow  of  fading  sunlight  on  the  mountain  sum- 
mits and  the  purple  of  the  glaciers  in  their 
hollows. 

The  Sun  had  preserved  himself  from  the  flood 
by  hiding  in  the  depths  of  Lake  Titicaca.  This 
was  his  island,  out  of  whose  sacred  rock,  after 
the  deluge,  he  soared  like  a  big  flame  into  the 
sky.  His  footsteps  are  still  to  be  seen  perpetu- 
ated in  iron  ore.  The  original  Incas  were  let 
down  by  the  Sun,  their  father,  on  to  the  small 
island  and  commanded  to  go  forth  to  teach  the 
savage  inhabitants. 

[170] 


A    MEGALITHIC    CITY 

But  the  worship  given  this  spot  by  the  Incas 
was  only  absorbed  in  that  of  former  times. 
This  "  Island  of  the  Wild  Cat "  is  a  field  of 
aboriginal  myth  and  tradition. 

The  sacred  cliff  where  the  Sun  had  risen  was 
covered  by  the  Incas  with  sheets  of  gold  and 
silver,  "  so  that,  in  rising,  he  might  see  the 
whole  rock  ablaze,  a  signal  to  worship."  "  Six- 
teen hundred  attendants  manufactured  chicha 
to  throw  at  it,  and  pilgrims  from  the  entire 
empire  brought  offerings  of  silver  and  gold." 
Garcilasso  says  that  "  after  all  the  vessels  and 
ornaments  of  the  temple  were  supplied,  there 
was  enough  gold  and  silver  left  to  raise  and 
complete  another  temple  without  other  material 
whatsoever."  All  the  treasure  was  thrown  into 
Lake  Titicaca  to  save  it  from  the  Spaniards. 
Ten  of  them  were  drowned  in  1541,  while  hunt- 
ing for  it.  Titicaca  guards  its  secrets  well. 

The  approach  to  the  temple  was  a  very  com- 
plicated structure  known  as  "  the  place  where 
people  lose  themselves/'  The  pilgrims,  after 
much  fasting  on  the  sacred  ground  of  the  island, 
were  allowed  to  pass  barefoot  through  the  first 
gate  above,  the  "  door  of  the  puma,"  puma- 

[171] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

puncu.  After  more  fasting,  they  might  go  down 
through  the  second  gate,  the  "  door  of  the 
humming-bird,"  kenti-puncu,  so  called  from 
feathers  of  humming-birds  plastered  over  its 
inner  side.  They  were  especially  honored  by 
the  Incas,  colored  like  the  rainbow  emblem. 
After  more  ceremonies,  the  pilgrims  were  al- 
lowed to  go  through  the  "  door  of  hope,"  pillco- 
puncu,  covered  with  feathers  of  the  bird  of 
hope.  Those  who  had  come  so  far  might  now 
worship  the  holy  cliff,  but  they  were  not  allowed 
to  touch  the  face  of  the  cliff  nor  to  walk  upon 
it.  Sacrifices  to  it  were  small  children,  whose 
heads  the  priests  cut  off  with  sharp  stones.  The 
sacrificial  stone  of  the  Island  of  Titicaca  still 
remains,  rubbed  smooth  by  the  iron  tooth  of 
time,  split  into  three  pieces  by  a  thunderbolt. 
So  does  the  queen's  meadow  below  the  terraces, 
where  the  carmine,  yellow,  and  white  cantut, 
flor-del-Inca,  recalls  the  blazing  color  of  other 
days,  when  fruit  ripened  here  twelve  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  maize  of  which  Sun- 
virgins  made  the  bread  of  sacrifice. 

Beyond,  is  the  island  called  Coati,  consecrated 
to  the  Moon,  where  her  temple  used  to  be.    The 

[172] 


A   MEGALITHIC    CITY 

life-size  statue  of    a  woman    was    found  here, 
gold  in  the  upper  half,  silver  in  the  lower. 

The  Fountain  of  the  Incas  still  gushes  two 
streams  of  clear  water.  "  A  stolid  Indian  sits 
watching  it  pour  away,  never  dreaming  whence 
it  comes,  as  no  one,  indeed,  knows." 


[173] 


CHAPTER  III 

MYTHS   AND   MONUMENTS 


THE  Indian  worshipped  the  Inca,  his  sover- 
eign, because  of  his  divine  origin,  being  the  de- 
scendant of  Manco  Ccapac,  founder  of  his  race, 
who  was  the  son  of  the  Sun.  Thus,  religion  was 
the  substance  of  the  empire.  But  as  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun  at  Cuzco  was  a  pantheon  of  idols, 
sacred  each  one  in  the  mind  of  some  visiting 
chieftain,  though  always  remaining  the  Sun 
Temple,  so  the  religion  itself  was  a  synthesis  of 
all  the  beliefs  which  those  idols  represented; 
blended  yet  dominated  by  the  all-searching  light 
of  the  Sun.  This  may  explain,  for  instance,  the 
confusion  of  Pachacamac,  the  supreme  deity  of 
the  ancient  coast  tribes,  with  Uiracocha  of  the 
mountains,  whom  Acosta,  among  others,  de- 
clares to  be  one  and  the  same.  Clear-cut  dis- 

[174] 


MYTHS   AND    MONUMENTS 

tinctions  are  impossible.  The  stories  are  all 
vague,  even  among  confident  writers  of  legends. 

As  to  the  Sun's  descent,  the  wise  men  of  the 
Incas  learned  from  their  predecessors  that  he 
was  made  by  The  Ancient  Cause,  The  First 
Beginning,  The  Maker  of  All  Created  Things, 
The  Supreme  Deity,  Ilia  Tici  Uira  Cocha  — 
the  four  ultimate,  visible  forms  of  the  Infinite, 
to  quote  the  Peruvian  Star-chart  of  Salcamayhua. 
There  is  in  Quichua  a  word  to  express  "  the- 
essence  -  of  -  being  -  in  -  general  -  as  -  existent- 
in-humanity."  Sometimes  the  name  is  given  as 
Con  Tici  Uiracocha,  an  identification  with  the 
supreme  god,  Con,  the  center  of  another  group 
of  legends  of  belief.  The  mystery  surrounding 
this  great,  invisible  god,  generally  called  Uira- 
cocha, is  as  complete  now  as  it  was  to  the  Sun- 
worshipping  Incas,  a  sort  of  Him  background 
for  the  glittering  splendor  of  Sun-ritual. 

Uiracocha  has  many  identities:  Uiracocha, 
the  Supreme  God ;  Uiracocha,  the  hero-god,  the 
white  and  bearded  man  in  long  robes,  who  with 
a  strange  animal  in  his  hand,  appeared  to  that 
Inca  afterwards  called  by  his  name,  tending  the 
flocks  of  the  Sun  among  the  tops  of  the  Andes; 

[175] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Uiracocha,  who  raised  up  an  army  for  the  Inca 
on  the  Field  of  Blood  out  of  stones  that  he  set 
on  fire  from  a  sling  of  gold ;  he  who  changed  the 
revelers  of  Tiahuanacu  to  stone  in  wrath.  (How- 
ever misty  the  connection  between  Uiracocha, 
stones,  and  human  beings,  it  is  certain  that 
Peruvians  held  stones  in  great  awe.  The  temple 
to  Uiracocha,  the  war-god,  is  at  the  foot  of  an 
extinct  volcano  whence  a  lava  stream  had 
issued.  It  is  paved  with  black  and  made  of 
carved  and  polished  stone.  The  interior  was 
obscure,  with  an  altar  for  human  sacrifices.) 
Uiracocha  who,  as  Betanzos  relates,  came  out 
of  a  lake  when  all  was  dark,  lord  of  light  and 
lord  of  wind,  who,  as  dawn  appeared,  spread  his 
mantle  over  the  waves  of  the  lake  and  was 
wafted  away  into  the  rays  of  morning  light. 
The  curling  waves  followed  his  evanescent  pas- 
sage, and  so  he  was  called  Uiracocha,  the  Foam 
of  the  Sea.  He  gave  his  wand  to  the  chief  in 
the  House  of  the  Dawn.  It  afterwards  became 
the  golden  staff  of  Manco  Ccapac,  his  son. 

Uiracocha  was  the  universal  god  of  the  Qui- 
chua-speaking  people.  The  Sun  was  peculiar 
to  the  Incas. 

[176] 


MYTHS   AND   MONUMENTS 

The  hazy  red  deity  Con  was  the  personifica- 
tion of  subterranean  fire.  '  He  is  light  as  air, 
has  neither  arms  nor  legs,  nor  muscles  nor  bones, 
nor  joints  nor  nerves  nor  flesh,  but  runs  very 
fast  in  all  directions."  He  came  from  the  sea 
and  flattened  the  hills  and  filled  up  the  valleys, 
and  by  his  simple  word  gave  life  to  man.  Vi- 
ciously he  converted  the  race  of  men  he  had 
created  into  black  cats  and  other  horrible 
animals,  devastated  the  earth,  deprived  it  of 
rain,  and  —  retreated  into  the  sea.  His  first 
temple  was  a  volcano. 

This  left  a  free  field  for  his  equally  omnipo- 
tent, equally  hazy  brother  Pachacamac,  who 
benignly  created  another  race  of  men.  Since 
Pachacamac  was  invisible  and  beyond  their 
conception,  the  Incas  built  him  no  temples, 
but  gave  him  secretly  a  superstitious  worship, 
bowing  their  heads,  lifting  their  eyes,  and  kiss- 
ing the  air  as  evidences  of  the  reverence  they 
felt  at  the  mention  of  his  name. 

Here  is  a  prayer  reported  by  Geronimo  de 
Ore:  "  O  Pachacamac,  thou  who  hast  existed 
from  the  beginning,  and  shalt  exist  unto  the 
end,  powerful  and  pitiful;  who  createdst  man 

[177] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

by  saying,  '  Let  man  be; '  who  defendest  us  from 
evil,  and  preserves!  our  life  and  health ;  —  art 
thou  in  the  sky  or  in  the  earth,  in  the  clouds  or 
in  the  depths?  Hear  the  voice  of  him  who  im- 
plores thee,  and  grant  him  his  petitions.  Give 
us  life  everlasting,  preserve  us,  and  accept  this 
our  sacrifice." 

The  Inca  mind  could  not  reconcile  the  an- 
terior existence  of  Uiracocha,  Con,  and  Pacha- 
camac  with  Sun-supremacy.  We  find  them  all 
called  sons  of  the  Sun,  and  so  their  importance 
could  consistently  fade  away. 

The  origin  of  the  two  first  Incas  was  mystery- 
veiled.  Men  discussed  whether  they  were  saved 
from  the  primeval  waters  robed  in  garments  of 
light,  or  whether  they  came  from  three  shining 
eggs  laid  by  the  lightning  in  a  mountain  cave 
after  the  deluge.  Did  they  escape  from  the 
lower  world  through  a  giant  reed,  or  were  they 
imprisoned  in  a  cave,  over  which  Uiracocha  ap- 
peared with  wings  of  brilliant  feathers  to  give 
Manco  Ccapac  the  insignia  —  the  scarlet  fillet 
and  the  round  gold  plates?  Some  thought  they 
emerged  from  Paccari-tampu,  the  Lodgings  of 
the  Dawn,  not  far  from  Cuzco.  They  had  been 

[178] 


MYTHS   AND    MONUMENTS 

led  thither  through  caverns  of  the  earth.  Sar- 
miento  relates  that  the  Incas  came  out  of  a  rich 
window,  by  order  of  Uiracocha,  without  parent- 
age. The  first  Inca  had  an  enchanted  bird  and 
a  staff  of  gold,  and  came  conferring  fairy-tale 
benefits  to  mankind. 

The  legend  most  widely  accepted  taught  that 
the  Incas,  who  in  the  person  of  Manco  Ccapac 
and  his  wife  and  sister  Mama  Ocllo  came  out 
of  the  cave  of  Paccari-tampu,  were  children  of 
the  Sun.  He  himself  placed  them  on  the  Island 
of  Titicaca  and  told  them  to  wander  until  they 
should  reach  a  place  where  their  wedge  of  gold 
would  be  swallowed  up  by  the  ground  at  a 
touch.  There  they  should  build  the  capital  of 
their  empire.  At  the  foot  of  the  fortress  of 
Sachsahuaman  it  disappeared,  and  so  the  city 
of  Cuzco,  the  Navel  of  the  World,  was  founded. 

The  poetic  fiction  of  all  these  legends  conceals 
an  historic  background  of  curious  details.  But 
with  Father  Acosta  we  should  consider  that 
"it  is  not  matter  of  any  great  importance  to 
know  what  the  Indians  themselves  report  of 
their  beginning,  being  more  like  unto  dreams 
than  to  true  histories."  He  continued:  "  They 

[179] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

believe  confidently  they  were  created  at  their 
first  beginning  at  this  new  world  where  they 
now  dwell.  But  we  have  freed  them  of  this 
error  by  our  faith,  which  teacheth  us  that  all 
men  came  from  the  first  man." 

Besides  all  this  maze  of  divinity  and  a  sym- 
bolic astronomy,  everything  in  nature  had  for 
them  a  soul  that  they  might  pray  to  for  help. 
Not  only  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  thunder,  and 
lightning,  the  rainbow,  the  elements,  and  rivers, 
but  that  deep  sea  from  which  they  issued  had  a 
mysterious  worship.  They  adored  high  moun- 
tains, homes  of  majestic  gods  whom  they  never 
saw,  whence  streams  proceeded  to  water  their 
terraces.  They  sacrificed  to  distant  objects  by 
blowing  the  ashes  of  burnt  sacrifices  into  the 
air,  offering  them  to  the  hills  and  to  the  wind. 
They  adored  all  great  stones,  the  mouths  of 
rivers,  all  things  in  nature  different  from  the 
rest,  and  offered  to  them  small  stones  or  a  hand- 
ful of  earth  or  an  eyelash. 

Moreover,  there  was  an  elaborate  fetishism. 
They  had  idols  with  a  personal  interest;  they 
carried  talismans;  they  had  miniature  domestic 
altars,  where  they  offered  chicha  or  flowers. 

[180] 


MYTHS    AND    MONUMENTS 

They  tried  to  appease  things  that  might  in- 
jure them.  They  drank  a  handful  of  water 
from  a  dangerous  river  before  crossing,  and  ate 
a  bit  of  the  stone  which  had  harmed  them,  and 
offered  in  sacrifice  a  leaf  of  coca.  The  mysteries 
of  coca  epitomize  the  country  where  it  grows. 
It  not  only  fortifies  the  teeth,  controlling  moun- 
tain sickness,  preventing  fatigue,  keeping  off 
disease,  strengthening  broken  bones ;  •  it  cheers 
the  spirit  and  invigorates  the  mind,  and  gives 
courage  to  perform  impossible  tasks. 

Its  juice  softens  hard  veins  of  metal.  The  odor 
of  burning  coca  propitiates  the  deities-of -metals, 
who  would  render  the  mountains  impenetrable 
without  it.  Coca-leaves  in  the  mouths  of  the 
dead  insure  a  welcome  in  lands  beyond. 

No  wonder  it  was  the  divine  plant  of  the 
Incas.  A  sacrifice  at  festivals,  its  smoke  an 
offering  to  the  gods,  whose  priests  chewed  the 
solemn  herb  to  gain  their  favor,  it  was  a  bene- 
diction for  any  enterprise.  Mama-coca,  its 
spirit,  was  worshipped. 

Coca,  preferred  to  gold,  silver,  or  precious 
stones,  was  dubbed  by  the  Spaniards  "  una 
elusion  del  demonio." 

[181] 


II 


Almost  as  well  known  as  the  stories  of  silver 
and  gold  from  Peru  are  those  relating  to  its 
mammoth  buildings  made  of  mammoth  stones. 
The  ruins  are  a  better  witness  to  the  greatness 
of  the  ancient  Peruvians  than  the  wealth  looted 
from  them. 

It  is  the  first  fact  mentioned  by  a  home- 
coming traveler  that  there  is  a  twelve-cornered 
stone  in  the  Street  of  Triumph  in  Cuzco,  and 
into  and  around  each  corner  other  stones 
are  so  perfectly  fitted  that  a  knife-blade  cannot 
be  inserted  between  them.  That  fact  is  per- 
fectly true.  So  also  is  the  fact  that  ancient 
Peruvians  transported  stones  weighing  tons 
with  llamas  and  human  beings  as  their  only 
beasts  of  burden.  They  lifted  them  to  great 
heights  without  machinery,  cut  them  without 
steel  implements,  blasted  them  without  gun- 
powder, and  polished  by  rubbing  them  with 
other  stones  and  bundles  of  rough  grass.  They 
had  no  resources  in  building,  but  their  own 
energy.  The  vast  "  stones  were  raised  by  social 

[182] 


MYTHS    AND    MONUMENTS 

institutions,  supplying  want  of  instruments  by 
numbers  of  people."  This  world  of  ruins,  com- 
parable to  Egypt,  "  is  isolated  in  the  region  of 
the  clouds." 

Stupendous  scenes  upon  these  elevated  plains 
were  object  lessons  —  nearness  of  gigantic  peaks, 
appalling  depth  of  chasms.  The  Incas  learned 
much  from  nature:  from  salt-strewn  deserts  to 
lay  waste  their  criminals'  property,  sowing  their 
fields  with  salt;  from  the  sea,  maker  of  ter- 
races. They  finished  off  the  mountain-sides 
with  small  andenes,  or  hanging  gardens,  which 
received  the  flow  of  water  bestowed  by  the  Inca 
upon  his  subjects  with  every  patch  of  ground. 
They  brought  loam  from  the  jungle  in  baskets 
and  created  land  upon  bare  rocks.  Where  op- 
portunity offered,  the  terraces  widened,  follow- 
ing the  natural  excrescences  of  the  mountain. 

And  when  nature  failed  to  point  lessons, 
models  were  provided  by  far-receding  civiliza- 
tions so  remote  that  they  almost  seemed  to  have 
relapsed  into  the  domain  of  nature.  Each 
served  as  the  foundation  for  the  next,  like  the 
rhythmic  life  of  the  jungle. 

Ancient  Peruvians  hesitated  at  nothing. 
[1831 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

They  built  an  artificial  city  on  a  high,  cold, 
almost  waterless,  plain,  with  a  palace  for  the 
Inca  to  visit  in,  a  garrison  for  his  protection, 
and  magazines  and  granaries  for  his  soldiers' 
food.  Countless  royal  palaces,  too,  their  niches 
covered  with  plates  of  gold,  and  convents  like  the 
House  of  the  Virgins  of  the  Sun  in  Cuzco,  were 
duplicated  all  over  the  empire  for  other  wives  of 
the  Inca  as  he  chose  among  them,  "  storehouses 
sheltering  his  tribute  in  women."  There  were 
baths  and  fountains  and  places  of  pleasure  and 
round  stone  chulpas,  towers  of  the  dead. 

Since  no  one  traveled  except  by  order  of  the 
Inca,  the  highways  were  reserved  for  himself, 
the  armies,  and  the  chasqui,  or  royal  runners. 
From  Zarate  to  Humboldt,  they  have  been 
described  as  fit  to  rank  with  the  seven  wonders 
of  the  world.  One  highway  pierced  walls  of 
solid  rock,  crossing  profound  chasms  and  the 
treacherous  marshes  of  the  puna  on  walls  of 
solid  masonry.  Being  a  pedestrian  road,  it 
slipped  in  nights  of  stone  steps  over  the  brow 
of  the  mountains.  It  traversed  the  whole  em- 
pire for  two  thousand  miles  among  the  moun- 
tain-tops. The  other,  flanked  by  mud  walls, 

[184] 


MYTHS    AND    MONUMENTS 

lay  along  the  low  deserts  of  the  coast,  "  shaded 
by  trees  whose  branches  hung  over  the  road 
loaded  with  fruit,  and  filled  with  parrots  and 
other  birds,"  to  quote  Cieza  de  Leon.  Hum- 
boldt  said  that  "  part  of  the  coast  road  was 
macadamized." 

At  regular  intervals,  "  every  ten  thousand 
paces,"  tambos  were  scattered  along  the  roads, 
houses  of  pleasure  for  the  Inca  and  waiting- 
houses  for  the  relays  of  messengers  of  the  Sun 
as  they  bore  news  of  royal  necessity,  or  brought 
fish  from  the  sea  or  other  delicacies  from  distant 
provinces  to  the  Inca's  table.  Garcilasso  de- 
scribes the  stone  stairs  up  to  these  inns  "  where 
the  chairmen  who  carried  the  sedans  did  usually 
rest,'  where  the  Incas  did  sit  for  some  time 
taking  the  air,  and  surveying  in  a  most  pleasant 
prospect  all  the  high  and  lower  parts  of  the 
mountains,  which  wore  their  coverings  of  snow, 
or  on  which  the  snow  was  falling,  for  from  the 
tops  of  some  mountains  one  might  see  a  hundred 
leagues  round." 

The  Incas  threw  a  swinging  osier-bridge  of 
spider-web  construction  across  a  vicious  torrent 
to  lead  their  armies  over.  So-called  historians 

[185] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

tell  of  bridges  of  feathers  used  in  Inca  days, 
but,  as  Garcilasso  adds,  "  omit  to  declare  the 
manner  and  fashion  of  them!  " 

The  secrets  of  the  Inca  ruins  are  not  yet  told. 
For  their  industry  moulded  underground  as 
well,  connecting  palaces  and  convents  by  hidden 
passageways,  and  chambers  and  depositories 
for  army  supplies  like  those  made  by  the  great 
Yupanqui  in  his  campaign  against  the  Chimus. 

The  subterranean  system  of  water-works  was 
stupendous.  Near  Cajamarca  is  a  channel 
several  hundred  miles  long  paved  with  flag- 
stones throughout  its  entire  length.  It  forms 
the  outlet  to  a  little  lake.  Another  aqueduct 
traversed  the  whole  province  of  Cuntisuyu, 
twelve  feet  deep  and  over  one  hundred  and 
twenty  leagues  long,  leading  waters  of  the 
snows  to  barren  plains.  Water  was  stored  in 
cisterns  on  the  mountain-tops.  '  They  con- 
ducted rivers  in  straightened  channels  through 
hills  of  solid  rock,"  they  brought  water  through 
pipes  of  gold  from  distant  hot  and  cold  springs, 
whose  sources  are  now  unknown.  It  trickled 
into  the  baths  of  the  Inca  through  golden  jaws 
of  animals,  birds,  or  snakes,  and  then  welled 

[1861 


k 


Copyright  by  Underwood  It  Underwood,  N.  Y. 
AX   HEIR  OF  THE   "  MAKERS  OF   RUINS."  . 


MYTHS    AND    MONUMENTS 

over  through  properly  regulated  pathways  to 
the  terraces,  where  growing  things  were  in  want 
of  irrigation. 

This  civilization  had  taken  ages  to  evolve, 
as  the  development  of  certain  plants  and  ani- 
mals alone  would  show.  It  was  reduced  in  a 
few  years  to  an  empire  of  ruin.  One  shivers  at 
the  "  hideous  energy  of  destruction  evinced  by 
man."  But  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  done 
to  annihilate  the  achievements  of  the  Incas, 
benefits  accruing  from  them  still  remain.  "  Ma- 
kers of  ruins  "  indeed,  yet  by  them  the  present 
flimsy  civilization  exists.  Upon  their  terraces, 
climbing  to  the  mountain- tops,  Indians  now  live 
in  mud  huts,  little  towns  clutching  at  a  far-off 
slope,  apparently  deserted  but  for  the  ceme- 
tery. Irrigating  prospectors  stand  aghast  before 
their  mighty  systems.  The  railway  builder 
may  take  lessons  in  road  construction. 

There  is  practical  value  in  ruins,  if  from  them 
comes  inspiration  for  modern  industry.  And 
there  is  poetry  in  ruins,  because  they  speak  of 
men  and  things  which  are  gone,  never  to  return, 
"  the  shrines  of  by-gone  ideals,  makable  when 
they  were  made  and  then  only." 

[187] 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   INCA  AND  HIS   EMPIRE 

No  one  dared  to  look  upon  the  Inca,  as  he 
radiated  the  light  of  his  divine  Sun-father. 
He  lived  and  ruled  as  a  deity,  representative  of 
God,  supreme  arbiter  of  all  creatures  breathing 
the  air  or  living  in  the  water.  "  The  very  birds 
will  suspend  their  flight  if  I  command  it," 
Atahualpa  once  said.  His  person  being  holy, 
his  body  after  death,  preserved  in  its  living 
likeness,  was  still  worshipped.  Carried  about 
on  a  golden  litter,  the  Prince  Powerful  in  Riches 
moved  from  palace  to  palace,  and  his  feet  never 
touched  any  but  sacred  ground,  consecrated  by 
his  contact,  if  not  previously  hallowed.  To 
carry  his  person  was  so  singular  an  honor  that 
his  weight  was  not  a  burden,  as  cultivating  his 
fields  was  a  labor  performed  with  hymns  of 
joy.  This  Sun  of  Cheerfulness  passed  beneath 
flower-covered  arches,  while  his  bearers  crushed 
out  sweet  odors  from  flowers  beneath  their 

[188] 


THE    INCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

feet.  Indeed,  "  the  shouts  of  the  multitude  as 
he  passed  along  caused  the  birds  flying  over  to 
fall  to  the  ground!  " 

If  these  "  facts  "  seem  more  like  romance 
than  truth,  they  have  at  least  masqueraded 
under  the  guise  of  history  for  more  than  three 
hundred  years. 

The  Inca  was  clothed  in  garments  made  of 
the  silky  hair  of  the  vicuna,  which  lives  above 
the  line  of  perpetual  snow.  Woven  as  they 
were  to  be  worn,  from  threads  of  invisible  fine- 
ness, the  soft  garments  were  made  by  cloistered 
Virgins  of  the  Sun.  They  were  enriched  with 
bits  of  gold,  silver,  emeralds,  a  fringe  of  gor- 
geous feathers,  and  with  mother-of-pearl. 
Pearls  were  not  used,  as  their  "  search  endan- 
gered the  lives  of  the  seekers."  The  Inca  wore 
a  suit  but  twice,  then  conferring  it  upon  some 
person  of  royal  blood.  These  were  the  gar- 
ments taken  as  sumptuous  gifts  to  the  mon- 
archs  of  Spain. 

Many  were  the  Incas'  marks  of  distinction. 
Their  heads  were  shorn,  all  but  one  lock,  as 
Manco  Ccapac  had  ordained.  The  "  shearing  " 
was  done  by  means  of  a  sharp  flint.  Another 

[189] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

distinction  was  enlarging  the  velvet  of  the  ear 
by  inserting  ornaments,  so  that  it  reached  the 
shoulder,  suggesting  the  Spanish  title,  Orejones. 

The  peculiar  badge  of  the  Inca  was  a  fringe 
encircling  his  brow,  called  the  llautu,  "  the  mark 
whereby  he  took  possession  of  the  realm,  a  red 
roll  of  wool  more  fine  than  silk,  which  hung  in 
the  midst  of  his  forehead."  And  his  chief  dis- 
tinction, worn  in  his  colored  wreath  and  point- 
ing upward,  were  the  two  long  pinions  of  the 
corequenque,  that  mysterious  pair  of  birds  which, 
isolated  in  a  snowy  desert  beside  a  little  lake, 
lived  at  the  foot  of  an  inaccessible  mountain. 
Though  there  are  other  snowy  deserts  and  other 
little  lakes  and  other  inaccessible  mountains, 
no  similar  pair  of  birds  could  ever  be  found. 
In  fact,  there  never  were  but  two  alive  at  the 
same  time  —  symbol  of  the  two  original  par- 
ents. They  recall  the  screaming  oo,  a  blackbird 
of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  famed  for  concealing 
under  each  wing  a  single  yellow  feather,  used 
in  making  those  magical  feather  cloaks  for  the 
kings  on  ceremonial  occasions. 

Each  Inca  must  have  new  pinions,  as  each 
must  have  his  new  palace,  for  the  apartments 

[190] 


THE    INCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

of  a  dead  sovereign  were  closed  at  death;  his 
golden  utensils,  jewels,  and  treasure  were  buried 
with  him.  Men  and  women,  practised  in  the 
art  of  lamentation,  cried  for  one  year  after  his 
death,  when  his  account  was  closed.  Then  the 
heir  "  bound  his  head  with  the  colored  wreath  " 
and  started  forth  through  his  dominions. 

With  the  rainbow  as  their  emblem,  even  Inca 
facts  had  distinctive  colors  and  were  interwoven 
with  facts  of  other  colors,  ideas  being  expressed 
directly  without  the  technique  of  words.  Knots 
in  a  parti-colored  twist  were  their  hieroglyph- 
ics, the  famous  quipus,  and  the  Officers  of  the 
Knots  were  their  historians.  They  intertwined 
the  bright  filaments  of  different  sizes  as  well 
as  colors,  and  tied  into  remembrance  every- 
thing from  laws  and  army  supplies  to  ballads 
of  the  poets,  sung  on  days  of  triumph. 

Such  a  Sovereign-deity  as  the  Inca  could 
force  the  equality  of  all  his  people,  command- 
ing them  to  be  happy.  Here  was  a  whole 
nation  moved  by  sameness  of  will  —  desire  to 
please  their  sovereign.  Observance  of  law  was 
natural  to  these  industrious  subjects,  who  were 
treated  with  absolute  justice  by  an  absolute 

[191] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

despot.  Each  was  just  as  well  fed,  just  as  well 
clothed,  just  as  well  housed,  just  as  well  amused, 
as  his  neighbor.  Emissaries  from  the  king 
inspected  his  neighbor  to  see  that  it  should 
remain  so.  All  persons  had  to  allow  messen- 
gers from  the  Inca  to  inspect  what  they  were 
doing  at  any  time.  Such  as  were  found  com- 
mendable were  praised  in  public.  Such  as  were 
idle  and  slovenly  were  scourged  on  the  arms 
and  legs.  One  punishment  was  whipping  by  a 
deformed  Indian  with  a  lash  of  nettles. 

"  There  never  could  be  any  scarcity  or  fam- 
ine, for,  if  a  man  failed  to  take  his  turn  at  the 
water  for  irrigation,  he  received  publicly  three 
or  four  thumps  on  the  back  with  a  stone  .  .  . 
shamed  with  the  disgraceful  term  of  ...  mizqui 
tullu,  being  a  word  compounded  of  mizqui, 
which  signifies  sweet,  and  tullu,  which  is  bones." 

As  labor  was  the  only  tribute,  the  rich  were 
not  taxed  more  than  the  poor.  The  blind  were 
required  to  cleanse  cotton  of  seeds  and  rub 
maize  from  the  ears.  "  The  old  men  and 
women  were  set  to  affright  away  the  birds  from 
the  corn,  and  thereby  gained  their  bread  and 
clothing."  No  one,  however  impotent,  could 

[192] 


INDIAN   WATER  CARRIER,   SICUANI. 


THE    INCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

escape  tribute.  The  poorest  gave  lice,  "  making 
themselves  clean  and  not  void  of  employment 
in  so  doing."  Who,  indeed,  were  the  poor? 
Those  who  were  incapable  of  work,  who  had  to 
be  fed  and  clothed  out  of  the  king's  store. 

"  There  were  no  particular  tradesmen  .  .  . 
but  every  one  learned  what  was  needful  for  their 
persons  and  houses  and  provided  for  them- 
selves." 

Laws  would  hardly  seem  necessary  to  control 
so  exemplary  a  nation.  Here,  however,  are  a 
few  paternal  laws,  thought  necessary  by  the 
Lover  of  the  Poor:  against  the  adornment  of 
clothing  with  gold  and  silver  and  jewels;  against 
profuseness  in  banquet  and  delicacies  in  diet; 
against  the  ill  manners  of  children;  of  good 
husbandry  and  hospitality;  providing  a  new 
division  of  lands  every  year,  according  to  the 
increase  and  diminution  of  families;  punishing 
those  who  destroyed  landmarks  or  turned  the 
water  aside;  devoting  the  services  of  all  master 
workmen  to  the  Inca,  and  supplying  them  with 
gold  and  silver  and  other  materials  for  the 
exercise  of  their  ingenuity. 

Since  the  Sun-god,  or  the  Inca,  had  be- 
[193] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

nignly  bestowed  them  for  the  people's  good, 
laws  received  the  same  veneration  as  the  pre- 
cepts of  religion,  from  which  no  subject  of  the 
Incas  could  dissociate  them.  A  breaker  of  the 
law  was  guilty  of  sacrilege,  and  no  punishment 
could  be  too  severe.  In  fact,  most  crimes  were 
punishable  by  death.  The  sinner  was  thrown 
over  a  precipice  or  into  a  ditch  of  serpents, 
jaguars,  and  pumas.  The  worst  sin  of  all,  high 
treason,  exacted  in  expiation  not  only  the  death 
of  the  sinner,  but  that  of  his  family,  even  of  his 
neighbors.  His  very  trees  were  pulled  up  by 
the  roots,  and  his  fields  sown  with  salt.  "  But 
as  there  was  never  any  such  offense  committed, 
so  there  was  never  any  such  severity  executed," 
a  mitigating  remark  of  Garcilasso  in  connection 
with  a  certain  crime. 

The  basis  of  the  Inca  government  was  tribute, 
personal  labor  given  to  the  Sun  and  to  the  Inca, 
a  source  of  continual  delight,  a  supreme  priv- 
ilege. So  the  Sun,  or  his  representative  the 
Inca,  was  furnished  by  his  people  with  food, 
tilled  by  them  from  his  own  ground;  clothing 
for  his  soldiers  or  his  needy  from  the  wool  of 
his  own  flocks;  bows  and  arrows,  lances  and 

[194] 


THE    INCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

clubs,  ropes  for  carrying  burdens,  helmets  and 
targets  each  where  most  easily  procurable. 
Temples  and  palaces  of  the  Inca,  his  aqueducts, 
roads,  and  bridges  were  built  with  hymns  of 
rejoicing.  The  laborers  never  got  out  of  breath 
so  as  to  spoil  the  cadence  of  the  hymn  of  tri- 
umph; the  chroniclers  fail  to  say  whether  in 
obedience  to  law  or  from  a  sense  of  good  taste. 

In  addition,  all  the  provinces  paid  tribute  of 
the  most  beautiful  women,  who  were  kept  in 
convents  as  wives  of  the  Inca;  and  he  might 
choose  any  who  suited  him. 

The  great  maxim  of  the  Incas  was  increase 
of  empire,  their  plea  being  the  best  interest  of 
the  tribes  they  were  to  conquer.  The  Inca  sent 
word  that  he  would  come  "  not  to  take  away 
their  lives  or  estates,  but  to  confer  upon  them 
all  those  benefits  which  the  Sun,  his  father,  had 
commanded  him  to  perform  toward  the  Indians. 
He  (would  come)  to  do  them  good,  by  teaching 
them  to  live  according  to  rules  of  reason  and 
laws  of  nature,  and  that,  leaving  their  idols, 
they  should  henceforward  adore  the  Sun  for 
their  only  god,  by  whose  gracious  command 
he  had  received  them  to  pardon.  To  which 

[1951 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

end,  and  to  no  other  purpose  (for  he  stood  in 
no  need  of  their  service)  he  traveled  from 
country  to  country." 

So  well  did  most  of  the  surrounding  tribes 
realize  this,  that  messages  of  submission  came 
before  the  conquerors  had  even  turned  in  their 
direction.  If  it  happened  that  because  of  igno- 
rance they  held  out  against  the  benefits  an 
indulgent  sovereign  was  waiting  to  bestow,  the 
Inca's  messengers  informed  them  of  his  exact 
intentions.  All  good  gifts  would  be  theirs,  pro- 
vided only  they  would  renounce  their  independ- 
ence, their  language  and  religion,  and  send 
their  chief  god  as  an  hostage  of  submission  to 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun  in  Cuzco.  Honored 
servants  of  the  Inca  would  come  to  them  in 
return  to  acquaint  them  more  in  particular  with 
the  new  benefits  they  were  about  to  receive. 
Skilled  workmen  would  teach  them  the  arts. 
The  sons  of  their  cacique  (chieftain)  would  be 
sent  to  Cuzco  to  receive  instruction.  Moreover, 
the  Inca  would  confer  upon  them  the  garments 
worn  by  his  own  gracious  person. 

Nearly  all  perceived  the  wisdom  of  such  a 
course  at  once.  But  if  in  blindness  any  still 

[196] 


THE    IXCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

rebelled,  messengers  brought  word  that  "  the 
Inca  pitied  their  folly  which  had  so  unneces- 
sarily betrayed  them  to  the  last  extremity  of 
want  and  famine."  For  enlightened  they  were 
to  be,  in  spite  of  themselves. 

Wonderful  are  the  tales  of  these  victorious 
campaigns,  for  the  Inca's  army  never  knew 
defeat.  The  soldiers  were  as  plentifully  sup- 
plied from  vast  granaries  as  if  in  Cuzco.  If  the 
march  led  through  lowlands,  the  entire  army 
was  relieved  every  two  months.  Though  the 
Indians  of  the  mountain-tops  did  not  object  to 
cold,  they  succumbed  to  fevers  soon  after  de- 
scending into  the  comfortable  valleys.  When  a 
new  province  had  been  incorporated,  the  gra- 
cious Inca  "  confirmed  the  right  of  possession 
to  the  natives  of  it." 

The  empire  extended  from  the  Chibchas  and 
Caras  of  Ecuador,  beyond  the  Chilean  deserts. 
Only  one  region  dared  defiance;  that  was  the 
primeval  jungle.  The  armies  might  skirmish 
about  upon  its  edges,  and  exact  exotic  tribute 
of  the  savages  who  ventured  forth.  But  within 
its  grim  interior  they  were  secure. 

In  the  provinces  of  Antis,  people  "  killed  one 
[197] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

another  as  they  casually  met,"  and  worshipped 
a  jaguar,  the  original  lord  of  the  jungle.  They 
sacrificed  hearts  and  blood  of  men  to  huge 
snakes  "  thicker  than  a  man's  thigh."  They 
made  war  only  to  eat  the  flesh  of  their  enemies. 
They  were  called  "  nose  of  iron  "  because  they 
bored  the  bridge  between  the  nostrils  to  hang 
in  it  a  jewel  or  long  piece  of  gold  or  silver.  With 
a  handful  of  men,  Yupanqui  visited  these 
savages  below  the  Andes  and  imposed  worship 
of  the  Sun.  With  a  handful  of  men,  the  Span- 
iards wiped  the  great  organization  of  the  Empire 
of  the  Sun  off  the  face  of  the  eafth  and 
established  upon  its  ruins  a  Christian  civili- 
zation. 

The  people  in  the  Valley  of  Palta  bound 
tablets  upon  the  head  of  a  new-born  child  and 
tightened  them  each  day  for  three  years,  until 
the  skull  was  elongated,  in  order  to  fit  the 
pointed  woolen  cap  which  it  was  the  fashion  to 
wear. 

The  Chachapoyas  wore  a  black  binder  about 
their  heads,  stitched  with  white  flies,  and  in- 
stead of  a  feather,  the  tip  of  a  deer's  horn. 
Their  chief  weapons  were  slings  bound  about 

[198] 


THE    IXCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

their  heads,  and  they  adored  the  condor  as  their 
principal  god. 

The  Chancas  were  the  most  dangerous  oppo- 
nents of  Cuzco,  a  powerful  race  owing  their 
origin  to  a  jaguar,  who  dressed  in  skins  of  their 
god  and  carried  effigies  of  jaguars  with  a  man's 
head  to  their  sacrifices  of  children,  by  whose 
eyes  they  prognosticated. 

The  caciques  of  all  dependent  tribes  were 
obliged  to  appear  once  a  year  at  court,  or  if 
they  lived  very  far  away,  once  in  two  years. 
They  brought  with  them  gold  and  silver  from 
their  mines,  for  all  such  things  were  devoted  to 
worship  of  the  Inca.  Failing  these,  they  pre- 
sented jaguars,  droll  monkeys,  parrots,  won- 
drous condors,  and  giant  toads  and  snakes  that 
were  very  fierce,  kept  in  dens  for  the  grandeur 
of  the  court.  People  from  all  climates  pre- 
sented indigenous  gifts,  the  most  beautiful  or 
the  most  curious  of  any  creature  or  plant  within 
their  domains.  Any  known  thing  preeminent 
in  any  way  added  the  name  of  its  peculiar  ex- 
cellence to  the  titles  of  the  Inca.  His  court  in 
Cuzco  consisted  of  more  than  eight  thousand 
persons,  nobles  who  traced  descent  from  the 

[199] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Sun,  and  representatives  of  all  the  fantastic 
tribes  blest  by  the  Inca's  clemency.  Even  the 
greatest  lords  carried  bundles  in  his  presence. 

The  noble  city  of  Cuzco,  where  the  children 
of  Inti  first  stopped  with  their  wedge  of  gold, 
was  itself  worshipped.  Those  who  lived  in 
Cuzco  had  a  certain  superiority.  Divisions  of 
the  city  were  the  Terrace  of  Flowers,  the  Lion 
Picket  with  the  dens  of  pumas,  the  Field  of 
Speech,  the  Quarter  of  the  Great  Serpents,  the 
Scarlet  Cantut  —  the  flower  of  the  Inca  —  the 
Holy  Gate,  the  Shoulder  Blade,  the  Seaweed 
Bridge,  and  so  on,  bounded  by  small  streams 
and  long,  somber  walls  of  perfectly  fitted  stones. 

Up  above  the  city  hangs  the  stupendous 
fortress  of  Sachsahuaman,  exceeding  all  the 
seven  wonders  of  the  world,  a  Cyclopean  work 
of  the  primitive  age.  Squier  says:  "  The  largest 
stone  in  the  fortress  has  a  computed  weight  of 
361  tons."  Sachsahuaman  must  indeed  have 
been  raised  by  enchantment  in  a  night  like 
Tiahuanacu,  for  it  surpasses  the  art  of  man, 
the  labyrinth  of  passageways  contracting  here 
and  there  so  that  a  single  man  could  keep  back 
an  army,  subterranean  tunnels  leading  to  temples 

[200] 


THE    IXCA   AND    HIS    EMPIRE 

and  palaces  of  the  city.  From  the  inmost  re- 
cesses of  the  fortress,  a  fountain  of  clear  water 
bubbles.  Its  mysterious  murmur  fills  the  secret 
passageways. 

Even  a  single  stone  destined  as  a  part  of  the 
fortress  partakes  of  the  enchantment.  Accord- 
ing to  legend,  twenty  thousand  Indians  had 
dragged  it  from  a  distant  quarry,  up  and  down 
over  the  wild  mountains.  Once  it  fell,  killing 
"  three  or  four  thousand  of  those  Indians  who 
were  the  guides  to  direct  and  support  it."  And 
when,  after  its  painful  journey,  the  monster 
finally  beheld  the  lofty  fortress  of  which  it  was 
to  form  a  part,  it  fell  for  the  last  time,  shedding 
bloody  tears  from  the  hollow  orbs  of  its  eyes. 
It  still -lies  on  the  same  spot,  receding  deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  ground  whenever  attempts 
are  made  to  remove  it. 


[201] 


CHAPTER  V 

SERVICE   OF   THE   SUN  -  GOD 

"  In  the  beginning  there  arose  the  golden  child.  He  was 
the  one  born  lord  of  all  that  is.  He  established  the  earth 
and  the  sky. 

"Who  is  the  god  to  whom  we  shall  offer  sacrifice? 

"He  who  gives  life;  he  who  gives  strength;  whose  command 
all  the  bright  gods  revere;  whose  light  is  immortality; 
whose  shadow  is  death.  He  who  through  his  power  is  the 
one  god  of  the  breathing  and  awakening  world.  .  .  .  He 
whose  greatness  these  snowy  mountains,  whose  greatness 
the  sea  proclaims,  with  the  distant  river.  He  through  whom 
the  sky  is  bright  and  the  earth  firm.  .  .  .  He  who  measured 
out  the  light  in  the  air,  .  .  .  wherever  the  mighty  water 
clouds  went,  where  they  placed  the  seed  and  lit  the  fire, 
thence  arose  he  who  is  the  sole  life  of  the  bright  gods.  .  .  . 
He  to  whom  heaven  and  earth,  standing  firm  by  his  will, 
look  up,  trembling  inwardly.  .  .  . 

"  May  he  not  destroy  us!  He,  the  creator  of  the  earth;  he, 
the  righteous,  who  created  heaven."  —  Hymn  of  Indian 
Sun-worship  from  the  Rig-Veda. 

PRIMITIVE  peoples  usually  adore  that  natural 
force  which  is  their  greatest  good.  Gratitude 
for  benefits  conferred  is  the  basis  of  all  pagan 
religion.  Primitive  peoples  also  worship  the 

[202] 


SERVICE    OF    THE    SUN -GOD 

sky  and  the  bright  objects  within  it.  Sun  wor- 
shippers combine  the  two. 

Inti,  the  Sun,  child  of  the  Universal  Spirit,  is 
his  mighty  emblem,  a  symbol  of  his  uncreated 
glory,  the  quickening  principle  in  nature,  the 
great  wizard  of  Peru,  the  only  source  of  vitality 
upon  earth,  by  whose  energy  the  winds  arise, 
the  glaciers  slide  over  the  mountains,  by  whose 
energy  even  the  rain  descends,  the  rivers  swell, 
and  cascades  leap  through  the  valleys  down 
toward  the  sea.  In  how  much  more  real  a  sense 
than  the  Incas  knew  is  Peru  the  land  of  the  sun! 

The  Sun,  ruler  of  the  stars,  together  with 
Quilla,  the  Moon,  ruler  of  winds  and  waters, 
his  sister,  wife,  and  queen,  created  beautiful 
Chasca,  the  Dawn,  "  whose  time  was  the  gloam- 
ing and  twilight,  whose  messengers  the  fleecy 
clouds  which  sail  through  the  sky  .  .  .  and 
who,  when  he  shakes  his  clustering  hair,  drops 
noiselessly  pearls  of  dew  on  the  green  grass 
fields." 

The  light-rays  emanating  from  the  Sun  and 
the  morning  star  of  double  course  are  his  mes- 
sengers, bringing  strength  and  power.  They 
precede  to  announce  his  coming  in  the  morn- 

[203] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

ing,  and  follow  him  as,  by  the  force  of  his  power 
and  heat,  the  sea  parts  in  the  evening  to  receive 
him. 

The  name  of  Sun- temples  in  Peru  was  Inti- 
huatana,  the  binding  of  the  Sun,  the  place  where 
the  eternal  light  or  fire  was  held  fast.  Though 
there  were  many  such  throughout  the  kingdom, 
the  Holy  of  Holies  was  at  Cuzco,  the  Place  of 
Gold,  Inti-cancha,  oriented  to  the  sunrise, 
golden  crown  gleaming,  sheltering  walls  and 
cornices  lined  with  gold  plates  under  its  roof  of 
straw.  There  flamed  the  great  golden  image  of 
the  Sun,  glistening  with  emeralds  and  other 
precious  stones,  completely  covering  one  side  of 
the  temple  opposite  the  eastern  portal.  The 
mummies  of  all  former  kings,  perfect  replicas 
of  themselves,  sat  staring  as  in  more  active  days 
from  their  thrones  of  gold  along  the  walls,  the 
eyes  shining  with  a  mixture  of  gold.  "  And  so 
light  were  these  bodies  that  an  Indian  could 
easily  carry  one  of  them  in  his  arms  to  the 
houses  of  Spanish  gentlemen  who  desired  to  see 
them." 

Beyond,  twinkled  the  temple  of  the  Moon, 
the  Sun's  coya.  The  queens,  her  descendants, 

[204] 


SERVICE    OF    THE    SUN  -  GOD 

were  also  called  coy  a,  "  not  being  worthy  a  title 
so  truly  magnificent  as  Inca."  This  was  the 
Place  of  Silver,  surrounded  by  the  dark  shadow 
of  night,  receiving  the  silent  homage  of  the 
queens,  the  sister- wives  of  the  Incas,  reposing 
on  silver  thrones.  At  full  moon  the  festival  of 
the  deities  of  water  was  held  here. 

A  white  cross  of  crystalline  jasper  hung  from 
a  silver  chain  in  a  secret  place.  The  white  light 
in  it  increased  and  decreased  with  the  moon. 
It  was  beneficent  and  associated  with  the  morn- 
ing light,  whose  compartment  came  next,  sacred 
to  the  Dawn  with  the  Morning  Star,  chasca 
coyllur,  ragged  with  earth  mist,  he  of  the  long 
curling  locks,  the  page  of  the  Sun.  The  royal 
runners  were  named  for  him,  messengers  of  the 
Inca  as  he  of  the  Sun.  All  the  other  stars,  com- 
panions of  the  Moon,  which  vanish  at  the 
coming  of  the  Sun,  glittered  each  in  its  proper 
magnitude  from  a  starry  ceiling. 

The  temple  belonging  to  Thunder,  Light- 
ning, and  the  Thunderbolt  —  servants  of  the 
Sun,  but  messengers  of  an  angry  god  —  shone 
with  tiles  of  gold,  but  was  without  symbol.  As 
the  arms  of  the  Inca,  the  dread  liquid  fire  which 

[205] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

darted  from  heaven  like  a  golden  serpent  with 
quick  spring  and  mortal  bite,  surrounded 
the  Rainbow,  beautiful  cuychi,  whose  image 
spanned  one  wall  of  the  room  beyond,  a  multi- 
colored ray  of  the  Sun,  flickering  over  the 
showery  hillside,  announcing  his  gracious  re- 
appearance after  the  tempest  and  promising 
peace.  The  all-powerful  Sun  could  subdue  the 
dark  cloud  and  draw  from  its  depths  the  shining 
rainbow,  whose  fragile  arch  widens  as  the  Sun 
sinks.  He  lives  in  the  clouds,  and  the  rainbow 
is  the  hem  of  his  garment.  Is  it  strange  that 
the  Incas  should  have  held  it  in  such  veneration 
that  when  they  saw  it  in  the  air  they  shut  their 
mouths  and  clapped  their  hands  before  it?  Is 
it  not  stranger  that  they  only  should  have  wor- 
shipped the  rainbow  and  placed  it  on  their 
banners  as  an  emblem  of  God? 

All  the  priests  of  the  Sun  in  Cuzco  were  of 
the  blood  royal,  a  privileged  class.  As  many  as 
thirty  thousand  officiated  in  Inti-cancha.  They 
washed  the  sacrifices  in  fountains  of  water 
which  bubbled  up  in  golden  cisterns  and  cele- 
brated the  great  festivals  in  glittering  dresses  of 
feathers  with  drums  of  serpents'  skins. 

[206] 


SERVICE    OF    THE    SUX  -  GOD 

In  Acllahuasi,  near  by,  lived  a  thousand  vir- 
gins, the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  pure  blood  of 
the  Sun,  destined  as  his  wives,  and  watched  over 
by  their  mamacunas.  Visited  only  by  the  coya, 
they  spun  the  fine  vicuna  garments  for  the 
Inca's  use  and  sewed  upon  them  little  plates  of 
gold  and  emeralds.  They  wove  and  embroid- 
ered the  royal  coca  bags  which  the  Inca  hung 
upon  his  left  shoulder.  They  made  the  sacred 
lid  n tu  with  the  colored  fringe,  and  the  straw- 
colored  twist  for  the  head  of  the  prince  royal. 
They  gathered  bones  of  white  Hamas  and  burned 
them  with  linen  they  had  spun.  Then  they 
collected  the  ashes,  and  looking  toward  the 
east,  threw  them  into  the  air,  an  offering  to  the 
Sun. '  They  made  bread  for  the  festivals  of  the 
Sun  and  the  chicha  drunk  by  the  Inca  and  his 
kindred,  in  kettles  of  gold  and  silver.  For  rec- 
reation they  went  out  to  walk  in  their  garden 
of  silver  and  gold. 

Nearly  half  the  year  in  the  Empire  of  the 
Sun  was  given  to  celebrating  —  everything  from 
the  first  day  of  the  moon  to  the  day  of  marriage 
of  the  royal  brides,  coyaraymi.  The  beginnings 
of  the  four  seasons  were  festivals.  At  the  ver- 

[207] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

nal  equinox  degrees  of  chivalry  were  taken  by 
young  nobles  who,  having  gone  through  all  pos- 
sible tests,  fasting,  and  temptation,  received  at 
last  the  kiss  upon  the  shoulder  and  the  jab 
through  the  ear-lobe  given  by  the  Inca  with  a 
nail  of  gold. 

At  the  autumnal  equinox  all  subjects  were 
cleansed  of  whatever  troubled  them,  when,  puri- 
fied with  children's  blood,  they  asked  the  mid- 
day Sun  to  protect  them  from  outward  calami- 
ties and  inward  diseases.  A  messenger  of  the 
Sun  with  a  gold-studded  lance,  fluttering  feathers 
of  many  colors  along  its  length,  ran  down  from 
Sachsahuaman  to  the  center  of  the  city,  where 
four  sons  of  the  Sun  waited  with  lances  to  be 
touched  by  him,  and  scatter  to  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  earth  at  the  Sun's  command,  all 
evils  which  beset  mankind.  Each  ran  six 
leagues  in  his  separate  direction  to  spread  the 
good  news.  People  shook  their  clothes.  The 
evils  of  night  were  driven  out  by  lighted  torches, 
which  were  then  thrown  into  a  stream  and 
extinguished  before  being  borne  away.  Con- 
fession of  sins  followed. 

The  greatest  feast  was  Intiraymi,  the  Binding 
[208] 


SERVICE    OF    THE    SUN  -  GOD 

of  the  Sun,  when  his  southern  shadow  grew  no 
longer,  when  the  Sun-god  by  some  unknown 
power  was  hindered  from  progressing  farther. 
This  was  always  a  mystery.  Tupac  Yupanqui 
had  said:  "  Many  say  that  the  Sun  lives,  and 
that  he  is  the  maker  of  all  things.  .  .  .  Now  we 
know  that  many  things  receive  their  beings 
during  the  absence  of  the  Sun  and  therefore  he 
is  not  the  maker  of  all  things;  and  that  the  Sun 
hath  not  life  is  evident  for  that  it  always  moves 
in  its  circle  and  yet  is  never  weary,  for  if  it  had 
life  it  would  require  rest  as  we  do  and  were  it 
free  it  would  visit  other  parts  of  the  heavens 
unto  which  it  never  inclines  out  of  its  own 
sphere.  But  as  a  thing  obliged  to  a  particular 
station,  moves  always  in  the  same  circle  and  is 
like  an  arrow  which  is  directed  by  the  hand  of 
the  archer." 

Later,  Huayna  Ccapac  said:  "  There  must  be 
some  other  whom  our  father,  the  Sun,  takes  for 
a  more  supreme  and  more  powerful  lord  than 
himself;  by  whose  commands  he  every  day 
measures  the  compass  of  the  heavens  without 
any  intermission  or  hour  of  repose;  for  if  he 
were  absolute  and  at  his  own  disposal  he  would 

[209] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

certainly  allot  himself  some  time  of  cessation 
though  it  were  only  to  please  his  own  humor 
and  fancy  without  other  consideration  than 
that  of  liberty  and  change." 

But  to  continue  with  the  festival  of  the 
summer  solstice.  At  peep  of  day  the  Inca  and 
all  the  nobles  of  the  blood  of  the  Sun  went  in 
procession  under  canopies  of  feathers  to  await 
his  arrival.  Foreign  princes  and  distinguished 
vassals,  in  garments  plated  with  gold  and  silver, 
skins  of  jaguars,  and  condors'  wings,  assembled 
at  a  little  distance,  the  whole  people  filling  the 
streets  of  Cuzco.  All  barefoot,  crouching,  they 
waited,  looking  toward  the  east.  Hardly  had 
the  first  rays  touched  the  snowy  mountain- tops 
when  a  loud  shout  of  joy,  songs  of  triumph,  and 
deafening  music  on  rude  instruments  broke 
from  the  multitude.  It  grew  louder  and  louder 
as  the  god,  in  rising,  shed  more  and  more  light 
upon  the  people.  They  raised  their  arms, 
opened  their  hands,  and  kissed  the  air  so  filled 
with  light. 

The  Inca,  rising,  greeted  the  pomp  of  dawn. 
He  held  two  great  bowls  of  gold  filled  with 
chicha  in  his  hands;  the  contents  of  one  he 

[210] 


SERVICE    OF    THE    SUN  -  GOD 

poured  into  a  golden  channel  leading  to  the 
temple,  and  the  vapor  rising  in  the  heat,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  Sun  himself  were  drinking. 
The  contents  of  the  other  he  shared  with  all  his 
kindred,  pouring  it  into  little  golden  goblets. 

Then  they  all  proceeded  to  the  temple. 
Outside,  the  curacas,  or  governors,  offered  to 
the  priests  images  of  many  different  animals 
of  gold,  while  the  Inca  and  all  the  legitimate 
children  of  the  Sun  went  in  and  presented  the 
goblets  he  had  consecrated  to  the  image  of  the 
Sun.  There  were  sacrifices  of  flocks  of  black 
llamas,  the  particular  property  of  the  Sun,  from 
which  prognostications  were  made.  The  animal 
to  be  sacrificed  was  held  fast,  and  with  a  sliver 
of  black  obsidian  its  breast  was  opened  and  the 
heart  torn  out.  Sometimes  as  many  as  two 
hundred  thousand  llamas  were  sacrificed  during 
a  year. 

It  is  a  horrid  chapter  from  the  Incas'  story 
that  they  made  human  sacrifices  along  with 
everything  else  which  they  valued.  Von  Tschudi 
says  that  they  offered  to  the  Sun  as  many  as 
two  hundred  children  at  one  time.  '  The  chil- 
dren were  strangled  and  buried  with  the  silver 

[211] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

figures  of  sheep,  having  first  walked  around  the 
statues  of  the  Creator,  the  Sun,  the  Thunder, 
and  the  Moon.  Sometimes  they  were  crushed 
between  two  stones,  sometimes  their  mouths 
were  stuffed  with  ground  coca." 

The  fire  for  sacrifice  was  a  direct  gift  of  the 
Sun,  kindled  from  a  great  polished  bracelet 
upon  the  left  arm  of  the  high  priest.  The  Vir- 
gins of  the  Sun  bore  away  some  of  it  to  care  for 
during  the  following  year.  No  more  unhappy 
omen  could  occur  than  its  extinction. 

The  Inca  sat  within  view  of  all,  mounted  upon 
his  gold  seat,  drinking  to  his  kindred  and  to  the 
curacas  in  order.  The  cups  his  lips  had  touched 
were  kept  as  idols. 

The  Sun  had  drunk  of  their  offerings;  he  had 
kindled  their  sacrificial  fire;  he  now  entertained 
his  subjects  with  a  banquet  prepared  by  the 
hands  of  his  own  Virgin-wives.  As  three  days 
of  universal  fasting  had  preceded  the  feast  of 
the  Sun,  so  for  nine  days  reveling  followed. 
They  ate  the  bread  of  the  Sun  Virgins,  and 
drank  their  chicha,  they  shouted  and  danced 
and  masqueraded,  each  tribe  of  the  empire  with 
differing  head-dresses  of  feathers  and  grotesque 

[212] 


SERVICE    OF    THE    SUN -GOD 

masks  according  to  the  fashion  of  their  country. 
"  They  cast  flowers  in  the  highways,  .  .  .  and 
their  noblemen  had  small  plates  of  gold  upon 
their  beards,  and  all  did  sing." 


[213] 


CHAPTER  VI 

INDIANS  AND  LLAMAS 

HAD  the  Indians  of  the  sixteenth  century  not 
known  that  their  overthrow  was  the  will  of 
Pachacamac,  the  miracles  constantly  favoring 
the  Spaniards  would  have  forced  them  to  recog- 
nize the  fact.  Pious  chroniclers  tell  of  Saint 
James  on  a  white  horse,  who  came  with  glisten- 
ing sword  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle,  and  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  whose  appearance  in  the  clouds 
blinded  the  hostile  Indians. 

The  Incas  could  but  succumb  to  the  sovereign 
will.  Some  retreated  beyond  the  mountains, 
leaving  indelible  traces  upon  the  people  of  the 
jungle.  Some  were  thrown  into  fortresses, 
which  "  their  ancestors  had  built  for  ostenta- 
tion of  their  glory."  On  the  authority  of  Gar- 
cilasso,  thirty-six  males  of  the  blood  of  the  Sun, 
who  had  been  condemned  to  live  in  Lima,  the 
Spanish  City  of  the  Kings,  had  in  three  years' 
time  all  died.  Sayri  Tupac,  a  nephew  of  Ata- 

'[214] 


INDIANS    AND    LLAMAS 

hualpa,  had  come  to  Lima  for  the  privilege  of 
renouncing  his  sovereignty.  The  amautas  had 
consulted  the  flight  of  birds  as  to  whether  he 
should  surrender  himself  to  the  Spaniards,  but 
as  Garcilasso  says:  '  They  made  no  inquiries 
of  the  devil  because  all  the  oracles  of  that 
country  became  dumb  so  soon  as  the  sacraments 
of  our  holy  mother,  the  church  of  Rome,  en- 
tered into  those  dominions." 

"Ah!"  said  Sayri  Tupac,  as  he  lifted  the 
gold  fringe  of  the  table-cloth,  "  all  this  cloth 
and  its  fringe  were  mine,  and  now  they  give  me 
a  thread  of  it  for  my  sustenance  and  that  of  all 
my  house."  He  was  allowed  to  withdraw  to 
the  beautiful  valley  of  Yucay,  "  rather  to  enjoy 
the  air  and  delights  of  the  pleasant  garden 
formerly  belonging  to  his  ancestors  than  in 
regard  to  any  claim  or  propriety  he  had  therein." 
But  he  sank  into  a  deep  melancholy  and  died 
within  two  years. 

The  Spaniards  were  occupied  with  duels  and 
assassinations  of  friends,  bloody  civil  wars  and 
religious  disputes,  usually  about  the  Immacu- 
late Conception.  One  can  read  volumes  of  such 
proceedings.  Indian  revolts  were  a  constant 

[215] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

interruption.  The  Spaniards  gradually  dis- 
covered that  it  was  impossible  to  keep  the 
Indians  quiet  while  an  Inca  remained  alive;  so 
in  1571,  less  than  forty  years  after  their  arrival, 
Tupac  Amaru,  the  last  of  the  Incas,  was  put  to 
death  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  following  manner, 
as  described  by  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega  in  the 
words  of  his  first  English  translation  (1688). 

"  His  crimes  were  published  by  the  common 
crier,  namely,  that  he  intended  to  rebel,  that  he 
had  drawn  into  the  plot  with  him  several  In- 
dians who  were  his  creatures,  .  .  .  designing 
thereby  to  deprive  and  dispossess  his  Catholic 
majesty,  King  Philip  the  Second,  who  was 
emperor  of  the  new  world,  of  his  crown  and 
dignity  within  the  kingdom  of  Peru.  This  sen- 
tence to  have  his  head  cut  off  was  signified  to 
the  poor  Inca  without  telling  him  the  reasons 
or  causes  of  it,  to  which  he  innocently  made 
answer  that  he  knew  no  fault  he  was  guilty  of 
which  could  merit  death,  but  in  case  the  vice- 
king  had  any  jealousy  of  him  or  his  people  he 
might  easily  secure  himself  from  those  fears  by 
sending  him  under  a  secure  guard  into  Spain, 
where  he  should  be  very  glad  to  kiss  the  hands 

[216] 


INDIANS    AND    LLAMAS 

of  Don  Philip,  his  lord  and  master.  He  farther 
argued  that  ...  if  his  father  with  two  hundred 
thousand  soldiers  could  not  overcome  two  hun- 
dred Spaniards  whom  they  had  besieged  within 
the  city  of  Cuzco,  how  then  could  it  be  imagined 
that  he  could  think  to  rebel  with  the  small 
number  against  such  multitudes  of  Christians 
who  were  now  disbursed  over  all  parts  of  the 
Empire."  How  little  effect  the  words  of  Tupac 
Amaru  produced  upon  the  Spaniards  can  be 
judged  by  the  following: 

"  Accordingly  the  poor  Prince  was  brought 
out  of  the  prison  and  mounted  on  a  mule  with 
his  hands  tied  and  a  halter  about  his  neck  with 
a  crier  before  him  declaring  that  he  was  a  rebel 
and  a  traitor  against  the  crown  of  his  Catholic 
majesty.  The  Prince  not  understanding  the 
Spanish  language  asked  of  one  of  the  friars  who 
went  with  him  what  it  was  that  the  crier  said, 
and  when  it  was  told  him  that  he  proclaimed 
him  a  traitor  against  the  king,  his  lord,  he 
caused  the  crier  to  be  called  to  him  and  desired 
him  to  forbear  to  publish  such  horrible  lies, 
which  he  knew  to  be  so,  for  that  he  never  com- 
mitted any  act  of  treason  nor  ever  had  it  in  his 

[217] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

imaginations,  as  the  world  very  well  knew. 
'  But,'  said  he,  '  tell  them  that  they  kill  me 
without  other  cause,  that  only  the  vice-king  will 
have  it  so,  and  I  call  God  the  Pachacamac  of 
all  to  witness  that  what  I  say  is  nothing  but  the 
truth.'  After  which  the  officers  of  justice  pro- 
ceeded to  the  place  of  execution.  .  .  .  The 
crowds  cried  out  with  loud  exclamation  accom- 
panied with  a  flood  of  tears,  saying,  '  Where- 
fore, Inca,  do  they  carry  thee  to  have  thy  head 
cut  off?  ...  Desire  the  executioner  to  put  us 
to  death  together  with  thee  who  are  thine  by 
blood  and  nature  and  should  be  much  more 
contented  and  happy  to  accompany  thee  into 
the  other  world  than  to  live  here  slaves  and 
servants  to  thy  murderers.' 

"  The  noise  and  outcry  was  so  great  that  it 
was  feared  lest  some  insurrection  and  outrage 
should  ensue  amongst  such  a  multitude  of  people 
gathered  together,  which  could  not  be  counted 
for  less  than  three  hundred  thousand  souls. 
This  combustion  caused  the  officers  to  hasten 
their  way  unto  the  scaffold,  where  being  come 
the  Prince  walked  up  the  stairs  with  the  friars 
who  assisted  at  his  death  and  followed  by  the 

[218] 


AN    INDIAN   PASTORAL. 


INDIANS    AND    LLAMAS 

executioner  with  his  broad  sword  drawn  in 
his  hand.  And  now  the  Indians  feeling  their 
Prince  just  upon  the  brink  of  death  lamented 
with  such  groans  and  outcries  as  rent  the  air. 
.  .  .  Wherefore  the  priests  who  were  discours- 
ing with  the  Prince  desired  him  that  he  would 
command  the  people  to  be  silent,  whereupon  the 
Inca,  lifting  up  his  right  hand  with  the  palm  of 
his  hand  open,  pointed  it  towards  the  place 
whence  the  noise  came  and  then  lowered  it  by 
little  and  little  until  it  came  to  rest  upon  his 
right  thigh,  which,  when  the  Indians  observed, 
their  murmur  calmed  and  so  great  a  silence 
ensued  as  if  there  had  not  been  one  soul  alive 
within  the  whole  city.  The  Spaniards  and  the 
vice-king  who  were  then  at  a  window  .  .  . 
wondered  much  to  see  the  obedience  which  the 
Indians  in  all  their  passion  showed  to  their 
dying  Inca,  who  received  the  stroke  of  death 
with  that  undaunted  courage  as  the  Incas  and 
the  Indian  nobles  did  usually  show  when  they 
fell  into  the  hands  of  their  enemy  and  were 
cruelly  treated  and  unhumanly  butchered." 

When  they  first  stepped  upon  the  shores  of 
Peru,  a  Spaniard  or  two  could  travel  hundreds 

[219] 


PERU,  A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

of  leagues  alone  through  this  foreign  country 
on  the  shoulders  of  men  and  be  adored  as  gods 
in  passing.  Before  long,  an  army  was  not 
secure.  A  Spanish  governor  and  his  escort  of 
thirty  men  were  resting  one  day  upon  a  high 
plain.  The  Indians,  whistling  to  each  other 
with  bird  calls  and  barking  like  wolves  in  the 
night,  "  went  softly  to  the  Spaniards'  tents, 
where,  finding  them  asleep,  they  cut  the  throats 
of  every  one  of  them." 

Such  deeds  were  being  done  in  the  Empire 
of  the  Lover  of  the  Poor,  the  Deliverer  of  the 
Distressed,  where  formerly  each  individual  had 
been  forbidden  to  injure  even  himself. 

The  spirit  of  rebellion  spread  among  the  In- 
dians. They  tried  to  poison  the  water-supply 
of  the  City  of  the  Kings.  They  tried  to  burn 
Cuzco,  imagining  they  could  burn  the  Spaniards 
with  it.  Their  revolts  culminated  in  that  great 
rebellion  of  1780  under  Jose  Gabriel  Condor- 
canqui,  called  Tupac  Amaru,  whose  descend- 
ant, through  a  daughter,  he  was.  His  followers 
swore  their  hatred  of  the  white  race  and  vowed 
not  to  leave  a  white  dog,  not  even  a  white  fowl 
alive.  They  even  scraped  the  whitewash  from 

[220] 


INDIANS    AND    LLAMAS 

the  walls  of  their  houses.  They  did  succeed  in 
strangling  a  governor.  In  return,  Tupac  Ama- 
ru's tongue  was  cut  out,  and  after  seeing  his 
wife,  son,  and  brother  tortured  to  death  before 
his  eyes,  was  himself  sentenced  to  be  torn  apart 
by  wild  horses. 

The  men  were  slaughtered  in  such  numbers 
that  the  women  went  out  to  help  each  other 
sow  the  fields.  At  sunset  they  returned,  hand 
in  hand,  singing  a  melancholy  lament,  until  this 
too  was  prohibited  by  Spanish  law.  All  musical 
instruments  were  to  be  destroyed;  the  use  of 
the  Quichua  language  was  forbidden;  women 
were  ordered  not  to  spin  as  they  walked;  dis- 
tinctive customs  were  to  be  laid  aside.  All 
lapsed  into  spiritless  dullness.  The  air  of  deso- 
lation spread. 

The  Indians  of  Peru  are  a  silent  people  trained 
by  cold  and  cutting  winds.  They  bite  the  end 
of  their  ponchos  to  show  anger  and  live  to  an 
immense  age.  Their  thoughts  turn  backwards. 
They  grind  their  teeth  on  the  same  hard  corn 
kernels  as  formerly  and  drink  the  same  corn- 
brandy;  they  carry  about  as  talismans  little 

[2211 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF   CONTRASTS 

effigies  of  llamas  found  in  the  graves  of  their 
ancestors  and  throw  their  criminals  over  the 
same  lofty  precipices.  The  juice  of  the  red 
thorn-apple  leads  them  into  ecstasy,  the  only 
high  light  of  their  existence,  for  by  means  of  it 
they  communicate  with  the  spirits  of  their  an- 
cestors. The  only  passion  they  have  brought 
with  them  through  the  centuries  is  remem- 
brance of  the  past.  The  thorn-apple  is  called 
huaca  cachu,  the  plant  of  the  grave. 

The  Indians  squat  about  in  groups  with  their 
little  gourds  of  chicha.  There  is  no  laughing. 
The  mummy-like  babies  do  not  cry.  The  lake 
on  whose  banks  they  live  contains  no  fish. 
No  worm,  no  insect,  inhabits  its  banks.  But 
there  is  a  spirit  which  broods  from  the  moun- 
tain above.  He  will  lighten  the  burden  of  the 
traveler  who  seeks  the  mountain-top  and  pre- 
sents him  offerings  in  the  depths  of  night.  The 
achachibas  or  piles  of  stones  are  witness  to  his 
gracious  power. 

Between  two  mountain-tops  lies  a  steel- 
colored  lake  shimmering  in  its  stone  basin.  The 
Indians  come  here  to  beg  for  fire-water.  They 
pour  in  brandy,  standing  on  a  peak  while  ma- 

[222] 


INDIANS    AND    LLAMAS 

king  their  libation  to  the  rain-god,  and  then 
leave  without  a  word.  Immediately  the  rain 
pours. 

Only  their  religious  festivals  recall  Inca  feast 
days.  Christianity  has  never  been  able  to 
abolish  the  bacchanales  of  former  times;  it  has 
merely  changed  their  names.  The  call  of 
triumph,  hay  Hi,  has  been  changed  to  Hallelujah, 
Christian  anthems  are  set  to  Indian  tunes,  IHS 
has  been  engraved  on  the  stone  doorways  of 
antiquity.  Over  the  shrines  outside  the 
churches  are  effigies  of  sun  and  moon.  Above 
the  megalithic  fortress  of  Sachsahuaman  three 
crosses  preside  where  the  banners  once  indicated 
the  dwelling  of  the  Children  of  the  Sun.  In- 
dians still  salute  the  Sun  temple  on  first  enter- 
ing Cuzco,  though  the  nave  of  the  Dominican 
church  stands  upon  the  spot  where  the  Sun 
was  worshipped  in  golden  chambers,  its  Chris- 
tian walls  built  of  mammoth  stones  rolled  to- 
gether for  the  glory  of  the  Sun.  This  super- 
structure typifies  the  methods  of  the  missionary 
priests. 

A  wooden  llama  filled  with  fire-crackers  is 
exploded  on  Good  Friday.  By  the  roadside,  an 

[223] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Indian  in  a  grotesque  mask,  with  a  feather 
crown  and  bells  on  his  arms  and  legs,  leaps  in 
fantastic  bounds  to  celebrate  the  day  of  the 
Holy  Cross.  A  picture  of  the  Virgin  is  carried 
about  on  her  Ascension  Day.  The  Indians, 
dressed  in  the  masks  of  wild  animals  and  multi- 
colored feathers  with  bits  of  savage  embroidery 
on  their  loose  garments,  dance  about  her  to 
fifes  and  drum-beats  and  rattles  of  beans  and 
snail-shells.  Wild  dances,  horn-blowing,  ugly 
voices  screaming,  and  rattling  tin  —  these  hea- 
then orgies  swarm  at  the  feet  of  effigies  of 
Christ. 

The  Indian  has  to  be  content  with  the  scanty 
earnings  he  can  get  from  the  transport  of  heavy 
burdens  and  from  the  wool  of  his  llamas.  By 
chewing  coca  he  is  able  to  run  all  day  before 
the  rider.  His  world  is  the  valley  where  he 
lives.  His  occupation  does  not  lead  him  to  the 
mountain-top  above,  nor  does  his  thought  soar 
as  far.  His  gloom  sulks  in  his  dress  and  manner 
of  life,  even  in  his  songs  and  dances.  When  he 
reaches  his  little  smoky  hut,  he  eats  his  frozen 
and  pressed  potato,  plays  a  wee  tune  on  his 
quena  and  goes  to  sleep. 

[224] 


INDIANS    AND    LLAMAS 

Self-sufficient  because  in  need  of  nothing,  the 
llama  is  the  interpretation  of  the  Indian.  Both 
are  products  of  the  soil,  like  the  yareta  moss  and 
the  birds  which  swim  in  the  icy  water. 

The  dark-eyed  llamas,  with  red-woolen  tas- 
sels in  their  ears,  move  slowly  across  the  icy 
plateau. 

Could  anything  equal  the  dignity  of  a  llama, 
his  serenity,  his  hauteur?  Why  not?  He  knows 
he  is  indispensable.  There  is  no  one  to  take  his 
place.  His  wool  furnishes  clothing,  his  skin 
leather,  his  flesh  food,  his  dung  fuel,  and  he  is  a 
beast  of  burden  where  no  other  can  live  on  the 
bare,  breathless  heights. 

In  return,  he  asks  no  shelter,  warm  beneath 
his  shaggy  coat.  He  asks  no  food,  for  he  grazes 
on  the  stiff  ychu  grass  as  he  journeys  along.  He 
needs  no  shoes,  no  harness,  and  even  provides, 
himself,  the  wool  for  the  homespun  bags  lying 
upon  his  back.  When  there  is  no  water,  he 
carries  in  bags  made  of  his  own  skin  what  is 
necessary  for  man.  Nor  do  his  benefactions  end 
here.  The  llama  furnished  the  mystery-loving 
Spaniards  with  that  strange  bezoar  stone  which, 
on  account  of  its  miraculous  endowments,  they 

[225] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

placed  in  the  list  with  emeralds,  pearls,  tur- 
quoises, and  other  precious  stones  from  Peru. 

Is  it  astonishing  that  the  llama  makes  his 
own  rules  of  conduct  and  exacts  entire  consid- 
eration of  them?  Disobedience  he  indicates  in 
a  way  not  to  be  forgotten!  And  yet  such  is 
his  docility  that  dozens  are  often  kept  within 
bounds  by  a  single  thread  stretched  around 
them  breast  high,  —  rugged  little  mountain 
beasts  herded  with  worsted!  Usually  so  gentle, 
if  a  llama  is  annoyed  he  becomes  revengeful  and 
useless.  He  never  will  hurry,  for  supplying  his 
own  food  he  must  graze  when  opportunity 
offers.  He  will  not  be  overloaded.  One  hun- 
dred pounds  he  will  cheerfully  carry,  but  with 
more  than  that  he  sits  down  like  a  camel, 
dreamily  chewing  his  cud,  and  can  be  neither 
forced  nor  persuaded  to  rise.  In  speaking  of  the 
alpaca,  cousin  of  the  llama,  Father  Acosta  said 
that  "  the  only  remedy  is  to  stay  and  sit  down 
by  the  paco,  making  much  on  him,  until  the  fit 
be  passed,  and  that  he  rise;  and  sometimes  they 
are  forced  to  stay  two  or  three  hours." 

The  little  variegated  herd,  with  expressions 
of  mild  surprise,  step  daintily  along  as  if  walk- 

[226] 


LLAMAS   AT  THE  FALLS  OF   MOROCOCHA. 


ing  on  eggs,  following  at  even  distances,  each 
moving  with  authority  of  a  whole  procession. 
If  frightened,  they  huddle  into  a  compact 
group,  craning  their  long  necks  toward  the 
center.  Then  they  look  you  wistfully  in  the 
face  for  minutes  at  a  time  without  moving. 
The  halter  of  the  leader  is  embroidered,  and 
small  streamers  flutter  from  it.  Most  of  the 
llamas  have  tassels  in  their  ears,  or  little  pend- 
ants or  bells.  Thus  they  file  across  the  snow- 
covered  cordillera. 

At  night  when  they  sink  on  to  the  puna  at 
their  journey's  end,  a  faint  murmur  like  many 
aeolian  harps  is  wafted  into  the  perfect  stillness 
of  the  frosty  night.  It  is  the  llamas'  apprecia- 
tion' of  rest. 


[227] 


PART  III 
IN  THE  JUNGLE 

The  land  lying  between  Peru  and  Brazil  is  a  mystery 
"  although  the  bounds  be  known  of  all  sides.  .  .  .  Some 
say  it  is  a  drowned  land,  full  of  lakes  and  watery  places; 
others  affirm  there  are  great  and  flourishing  kingdoms,  .  .  . 
where  they  say  are  wonderful  things." 

FATHER  ACOSTA 


CHAPTER  I 

A   LAND   OF   ADVENTURE 

WHAT  a  "  hereditary  spell  "  the  jungle  has 
had  upon  men!  How  smilingly  its  beauty  al- 
lures —  and  how  graciously  it  repels !  Yet  its 
beauty  is  not  merely  beauty.  It  flashes  sug- 
gestions of  wondrous  lands  beyond,  bringing  to 
the  imagination  a  pleasure  in  its  own  vision  like 
the  joy  of  nature  in  her  own  loveliness.  The 
jungle  is  a  region  which  men  have  always 
peopled  with  strange  forms  pleasing  to  their 
fancies,  yet  a  region  of  dread,  beyond  human 
loneliness.  It  has  sheltered  in  turn  the  desid- 
eratum of  each  age,  while  surrounding  it  with 
fearful  mysteries.  But  though  men  have  looked 
upon  the  jungle  with  awe,  magic  possibilities 
were  still  within  and  beyond.  A  chacun  son 
infini. 

Both  Inca  Rocca  and  Yupanqui  attempted  to 
conquer  the  jungle.  Between  Paucartampu  and 
the  Madre  de  Dios  are  vestiges  of  an  Inca  road. 

[231] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

But  downpours  and  floods  made  roads  give 
way  to  watercourses.  The  Incas  called  them 
"  doorways "  to  the  woods,  which  mountain 
rapids  had  opened  by  irresistible  force;  but  no 
one  could  pass  through.  Even  the  executive 
Incas  were  obliged  to  turn  back  with  only  a 
fringe  of  jungle  conquest,  great  campaigns  re- 
sulting only  in  loss  of  life  then  as  now.  They 
retreated,  submissive  before  nature's  impreg- 
nable stronghold.  There  are  tribes  of  strange, 
shy  little  people  still  showing  traces  of  contact 
with  the  Incas.  Although  so  long  ago,  they 
made  a  profounder  impression  than  all  subse- 
quent invaders.  Even  if  the  conquered  sav- 
ages remained  in  the  jungle  after  submitting  to 
the  Incas,  they  were  obliged  to  pay  tribute  to 
them,  observing  the  habits  of  their  conquerors 
when  they  emerged.  Those  Incas,  also,  who 
withdrew  into  the  woods  to  escape  Spanish  per- 
secution, carried  their  customs  with  them.  No 
matter  how  their  influence  was  perpetuated, 
tribes  still  show  the  "  footprints  of  Incas  "  in 
the  surface  of  rocks,  and  even  as  far  as  the 
Mishagua  are  found  legends  of  Incas'  hidden 
treasure.  With  them  in  mind,  the  "big  ears" 

[232] 


of  some  of  the  savages  assume  a  strange  signifi- 
cance. 

Where  the  Madera  and  the  Amazon  meet 
there  is  a  great  island,  a  river  island  hundreds 
of  miles  in  extent.  Its  name  is  Tumpinam- 
baranas,  and  upon  it  are  remains  of  gigantic 
buildings.  Was  this  the  fabulous  country, 
Paytiti  of  mystery,  powerful  in  riches,  a  legend- 
ary home  of  Manco  Ccapac?  Georg  M.  von 
Hassel  is  now  investigating  this  hazy  subject. 
The  people  of  Tumpinambaranas  had  legends 
of  a  race,  the  Mutayces,  who  lived  toward  the 
south,  "  whose  feet  grew  backwards  so  that  any 
one  who  attempted  to  follow  them  by  their 
track,  would,  if  he  were  ignorant  of  this  mal- 
formation, go  farther  from  them." 

Columbus  breathed  the  sweet  air  which  blew 
across  from  the  forests  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Orinoco  and  faithfully  imagined  it  one  of  the 
four  great  rivers  flowing  from  paradise.  Had 
he  only  dared,  he  said,  he  would  have  liked  to 
push  forward  to  where  he  might  hope  to  find 
the  celestial  boundaries  of  the  world,  and  a  little 
farther,  to  have  bathed  his  eyes  with  profound 
humility  in  the  light  of  the  flaming  swords 

[233] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

which  were  wielded  by  two  seraphim  before  the 
gate  of  Eden. 

The  cavaliers  in  search  of  gold  believed  that 
El  Dorado  lived  within  the  mysterious  jungle. 
Their  expeditions  were  imbued  with  awe. 
Adolph  F.  Bandelier  has  transcribed  the  source 
of  the  legend.  It  is  the  ceremonial  of  choosing 
the  uzaque  of  Guatavita: 

"  In  front  walked  wailing  men,  nude,  their 
bodies  painted  with  red  ochre,  the  sign  of  deep 
mourning.  .  .  .  Groups  followed  of  men  richly 
decorated  with  gold  and  emeralds,  their  heads 
adorned  with  feathers,  and  braves  clothed  in 
jaguars'  skins.  The  greater  number  of  them 
went  uttering  joyful  shouts,  others  blew  on 
horns,  pipes  and  conchs.  .  .  .  The  rear  of  the 
procession  was  composed  of  the  nobles  and  the 
chief  priests,  bearing  the  newly  elected  chieftain 
upon  a  barrow  hung  with  discs  of  gold.  His 
naked  body  was  anointed  with  resinous  gums 
and  covered  all  over  with  gold  dust.  This  was 
the  gilded  man,  el  hombre  dorado,  whose  fame 
had  reached  the  sea  coast.  Arrived  at  the  shore, 
the  gilded  chief  and  his  companions  stepped 
upon  a  balsa  and  proceeded  upon  it  to  the 

[234] 


A    LAXD    OF    ADVENTURE 

middle  of  the  lake.  There  the  chief  plunged 
into  the  water  and  washed  off  his  metallic  cov- 
ering, while  the  assembled  company,  with  shouts 
and  the  sound  of  instruments,  threw  in  the  gold 
and  the  jewels  they  had  brought  with  them." 

Treasures  have  been  found  in  this  lake, 
among  others  a  group  of  golden  figures.  The 
chronicler  Don  Rafael  Zerda  says:  "  Undoubt- 
edly this  piece  represents  the  .  .  .  cacique  of 
Guatavita  surrounded  by  Indian  priests  on  the 
raft,  which  was  taken  on  the  day  of  the  cere- 
mony to  the  middle  of  the  lake  "  for  sacrifice  to 
its  goddess. 

"  Humboldt  saw  the  staircase  down  which  the 
gilded  man  and  his  train  in  jaguars'  skins  de- 
scended to  the  waters  of  the  lake  of  Guatavita. 
He  also  found  the  remains  of  the  tunnels  by 
which  the  Spaniards  had  tried  to  drain  the 
lake." 

A  joint  stock  company  in  1903  did  drain  the 
lake  of  Guatavita.  But  its  mud  turned  to 
cement  before  they  could  dig  in  it. 

The  "  vision  of  the  Dorado  appeared  like  a 
mirage,  enticing,  deceiving,  leading  men  to  de- 
struction." It  became  the  name  of  a  mythical 

[235] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

country,  where  rivers  ran  over  sands  of  gold, 
and  palaces  stood  on  golden  pillars  shining  with 
emeralds.  Infamous  adventurers,  brave  as  the 
knights  of  the  Round  Table,  confronted  and 
stormed  the  great  jungle. 

Orellana  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro  tried  to  find 
the  glittering  capital  of  Manoa,  which  El  Do- 
rado had  gradually  become.  For  these  buc- 
caneers who  set  out  with  an  arrogant  army  to 
conquer  the  Cinnamon  Country,  nature  became 
the  supreme  fact  of  existence.  Famine,  per- 
petual rain,  fevers,  strange  insects,  and  reptiles 
attacked  them.  Their  expeditions  could  but 
end  in  the  murder  of  each  other.  They  followed 
the  example  of  all  life  in  the  jungle. 

Doctor  Middendorf  says  that  the  Amazon 
was  named  for  the  Coniapuyara,  a  race  of  big 
women  leaders,  whom  the  Spaniards  found. 
Condamine  assures  us  that  light-skinned  Ama- 
zons lived  there.  Raleigh,  while  searching  for 
Manoa,  is  said  to  have  first  reported  them, 
though  he  found  them  by  going  up  the  Orinoco. 
The  distinguished  scientist  Ulloa,  who  went  to 
South  America  in  1758,  says  it  is  "  an  un- 
doubted truth  that  there  had  been  formerly 

[236] 


A   LAND    OF    ADVENTURE 

several  communities  of  women  who  formed  a 
kind  of  republic,  without  admitting  any  men 
into  the  government."  Well,  at  least  there  is 
nothing  either  to  prove  or  disprove  it.  A  recent 
report  of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Lima  gives 
a  far  less  picturesque  explanation  of  the  na- 
ming of  the  Amazon,  to  the  effect  that  "  the  tribe 
of  the  Nahumedes  were  thought  to  be  Amazons 
on  account  of  their  long  hair  and  the  cushma,  a 
long,  sleeveless  garment  which  they  wore." 

Close  upon  the  adventurers  came  the  Jesuit 
missionaries,  who  burned  to  save  from  hell-fire 
the  strange  human  beings  they  might  find  lurk- 
ing in  the  forest  depths.  One  Jesuit  father, 
Fritz,  spent  fifty  years  (1680-1730)  on  the 
Amazon,  trying  to  connect  the  aborigines  by 
the  introduction  of  a  common  language.  These 
missionaries  left  no  ruins  like  those  in  Paraguay, 
the  Jesuit  State,  but  their  teachings  are  visible 
in  savage  traditions.  They  transformed  Bible 
stories  to  fit  jungle  needs. 

"  A  Murato  was  fishing  in  a  lake  of  Pastasa, 
when  a  little  lizard  swallowed  his  hook.  The 
fisherman  killed  it,  the  mother  of  the  lizards 
was  much  angered  and  with  her  tail  slashed  the 

[237] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

water  in  such  a  way  that  it  overflowed  the  entire 
vicinity.  All  were  drowned  except  one,  who 
climbed  into  a  small  pivai  palm,  and  hung  there 
several  days  under  a  perpetual  darkness.  From 
time  to  time  a  fruit  of  the  pivai  palm  fell,  but 
always  upon  the  water,  until  one  day  he  heard 
the  plump  of  the  fruit  upon  dry  ground.  He 
got  down  from  the  tree,  made  a  house  and  farm, 
and  with  a  little  piece  of  his  flesh,  which  he 
planted  in  the  earth,  made  for  himself  a  wife, 
by  whom  he  had  many  children." 

The  commercial  age  is  now  having  its  fling. 
It  is  attempting  to  subdue  the  jungle.  The 
rubber  hunters  are  not  seeking  paradise.  They 
are  not  looking  for  legendary  kingdoms,  nor  are 
they  wishing  to  save  the  souls  of  beings  of  whose 
existence  they  are  not  even  persuaded.  Rubber 
is  a  valuable  product.  So  are  other  things  con- 
cealed in  jungle  depths.  Dark  crimes  can  also 
be  hidden  in  the  half-light,  covered  close  under 
the  thick  veil  which  shrouds  the  land  of  mys- 
tery. 

This  Peru,  approachable  from  the  Atlantic, 
the  "  monstrous  thicke  wood "  of  the  early 
travelers,  still  remains  undisturbed.  Illimitable 

[238] 


A    LAND    OF    ADVENTURE 

it  is  as  you  gaze  down  upon  it,  stretching  away 
one  unbroken  forest  to  the  faint  blue  horizon, 
without  a  single  natural  approach  except  the 
watenvays.  Lying  close  below  the  austere 
mountain-tops  is  a  luxuriant  world  of  vegeta- 
tion; wide  stretches  of  unpreempted  soil,  sparse- 
ness  characteristic  of  polar  regions  hangs  just 
above  a  tropical  phantasmagoria  of  growth. 
Shifting  cloud-shadows  and  wandering  rainbows 
flit  and  interchange  over  the  jungle  like  the 
play  of  colors  on  a  peacock's  neck. 

Though  we  know  that  there  are  no  mighty 
civilizations  of  human  making,  there  are  no 
streets  of  gold  with  ruby  walls,  yet  within  the 
imperturbable  recesses  are  strange  races  and 
wonders  of  plant  and  animal  life  which  may 
interpret  whole  domains  of  knowledge.  Na- 
ture's secrets  are  still  locked  up  in  this  prolific 
laboratory.  Though  we  know  that  no  great 
race  of  kings  holds  sway,  yet  it  is  certain  that 
here  is  a  chance  to  study  in  the  wild  tribes  the 
growth  of  human  language  —  beginning  with  the 
poor  Inje-inje,  who  has  not  more  than  a  bird's 
speech,  and  whose  needs  are  no  greater  than  his 
speech  would  suggest. 

[239] 


CHAPTER  II 

TOWARD   THE   UNDISCOVERED   COUNTRY 

FROM  the  mountain-tops  the  stream  leads 
toward  the  east  over  the  Eyebrows  of  the 
Jungle,  La  Ceja  de  la  Montana,  letting  loose  a 
deluge  from  its  black  clouds.  Caught  between 
walls  of  red  and  black  striped  rock,  the  valley 
grows  deeper  and  hotter  and  rilled  with  mist. 
The  water  accumulates  brightly  colored  pebbles. 
It  rolls  over  ungathered  bits  of  gold  in  its  sand 
and  rushes  them  along  with  slivers  of  glistening 
mica.  All  about  is  the  sound  of  springs  "  whose 
waters  moss  has  turned  aside."  Buried  in  luxu- 
riant vegetation,  it  slides  on  beneath  thickets  of 
guava,  golden  cassia,  and  red-leaved  tilandsia 
bushes,  hung  with  rank  passion  vines,  whose 
ripened  fruit,  the  crackly  granadilla,  lies  every- 
where upon  the  ground.  A  mammoth  iguana, 
munching  the  flesh-colored  bignonias,  falls  oc- 
casionally from  the  tree-tops. 

Small,  richly  plumed  parrots  nest  in  the  rock 
[240] 


THE    UNDISCOVERED    COUNTRY 

walls.  A  whole  book  might  be  written  about 
the  parrots,  various  as  vegetation  itself,  flashing 
multi-colored  light  as  they  scream  through  the 
air-spaces.  There  is  the  toucan,  turning  his  bill 
with  its  accessory  head  around  to  gloss  his 
splendid  plumage  in  a  ray  of  sunlight.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  scale  are  the  meek  little  green 
parroquets  with  perpendicular  bills,  hardly  larger 
than  sparrows,  which  go  in  pairs  and  move  in 
parallel  lines.  Every  variety  keeps  together, 
each  to  its  kind. 

There  are  other  large,  fruit-eating  birds;  birds 
with  curiously  shaped  tail  feathers;  birds  with 
crests  and  ornamental  plumage.  As  variegated 
as  their  forms  are  their  curious  cries.  The  black 
ox-bird  bellows  like  a  bull,  the  black  and  red 
tunqui  grunts  like  a  pig,  and  wood-pigeons  cry 
like  children.  Occasionally  "  jets  of  brilliant 
melody  "  sparkle  among  the  trees,  but  more 
often  the  notes  have  a  mysterious,  aerial  quality 
"  like  the  tinkling  of  a  far-off  bell  suspended  in 
the  air." 

Here  hangs  the  wonderful  nest,  four  feet  long, 
of  the  pouched  starling,  bound  together  with 
spiders'  webs  as  strong  as  silk.  Such  is  jungle 

[241] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF   CONTRASTS 

lavishness  that  plants  and  animals  are  given 
endowments  useless  to  them  in  their  struggle  for 
existence.  The  bird  which  builds  such  a  pala- 
tial nest  has  no  advantage  over  any  other.  Its 
wondrous,  unplantlike  power  gives  to  the  sensi- 
tive plant  no  superiority.  Struck  with  paraly- 
sis, it  can  recoil  at  a  touch,  but  that  forms  no 
link  with  its  fellow  plants.  Such  a  feat  is  not 
an  attribute  nor  in  any  way  a  necessity  of 
vegetable  life.  It  can  hardly  compensate  the 
sensitive  plant  for  its  lack  of  perfume  and  bright 
flower,  the  right  of  every  growing  thing. 

Chatter  of  monkeys  mingles  with  roar  of 
falling  water,  hairy  manikins,  shrieking  and 
gamboling,  "  very  gentle  and  delightful  apes," 
Father  Acosta  called  them.  Tiny,  blear-eyed 
monkeys  scream  in  disapproval  of  all  they  can 
see,  hear,  or  smell.  Scarlet-faced  monkeys,  owl- 
faced  monkeys,  swing  from  branch  to  branch 
with  crazy  gestures,  "  taking  one  turn  of  the 
tail  at  least  around  anything  in  passing,  just 
provisionally." 

Thick  masses  of  quinar  trees  are  draped  in 
luxuriant  parasites,  and  agave  bushes  are  filled 
with  red  flowers.  The  wonderful  maguey  grows 

[242] 


IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  PERENE. 


THE    UNDISCOVERED    COUNTRY 

here,  yielding  water,  oil,  and  vinegar,  honey, 
thread,  needles,  and  soap.  Its  juice  boiled  in 
rain-water  takes  away  weariness. 

Clear  water  drips  over  blocks  of  granite,  cov- 
ering the  stone  with  moss  in  falling.  The  ter- 
rible jaguar  lies  curled  up  asleep  in  some  far-off 
notch,  gently  purring.  Ferns  and  palms,  fore- 
runners of  the  great  empire  of  vegetation  below, 
cluster  along  the  brooks  swelled  with  snow. 
"  Tall  and  whispering  crowds  of  tree  ferns  " 
droop  their  filmy  fronds  from  lofty,  slender 
stems.  Ferns  of  every  conceivable  size  and 
texture  smother  rocks  and  decaying  trees.  Some 
are  as  small  as  mosses,  others  appear  monstrous, 
like  those  of  a  moonlight  night.  Humming- 
birds flit  above  the  pomegranates  or  lose  them- 
selves in  a  banana  blossom.  "  The  rose-colored 
plumage  of  the  silky  cuckoo  peeps  out  like  a 
flower  from  the  thick  foliage." 

It  is  an  earthly  paradise,  where  bloodsucking 
bats  emerge  at  night  and  lightning  rages  un- 
controlled, destroying  trees  and  cracking  open 
precipices.  Pumas  live  in  these  clefts  hewn 
through  the  mountains,  and  they  spring  on  to 
the  shoulders  of  a  victim,  drawing  back  the 

[243] 


PERU,  A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

head  until  the  neck  snaps.  Pumayacu  is  the 
stream  of  the  puma,  with  its  tumultuous  torrent 
whose  very  stones  are  treacherous. 

Such  are  the  rain-soaked  slopes  of  the  Andes, 
a  tangled  mass  of  jungle.  The  woods  are  all 
enchanted.  Thousands  of  fairies  dance  in  the 
sunbeams,  and  during  the  rain  myriads  of  them 
hide  in  the  flowers.  If  disturbed,  they  disap- 
pear underground.  One  can  never  be  sure  that 
"  what  one  surveys  is  what  it  purports  to  be, 
nor  even,  that  in  surveying  nothing,  one  is  not 
gazing  through  an  invisible  being,"  as  Guene- 
lette  observed  so  long  ago. 

The  half -Indian  guide  began  to  speak,  taking 
a  coca-leaf  from  his  fawn-skin  pouch. 

"  Pigmies  live  in  the  undergrowth.  They  are 
not  more  than  so  tall,  .  .  .  and  very,  very  wild. 
No,  they're  not  monkeys.  They  have  a  lan- 
guage, although  we  cannot  understand  it.  How 
do  I  know  they  live  here?  Why!  I  know! 
Have  I  ever  seen  them?  No.  But  —  I've  seen 
their  shadows. 

"  And  then  there  are  jaguars  near  here,  jag- 
uars with  the  hoofs  of  bullocks.  At  night  I  can 
hear  them  springing  upon  the  thatch  of  my  thin 

[244] 


THE    UNDISCOVERED    COUNTRY 

roof.  They  roar  and  roar  and  one  might  call 
them  the  devil  himself  if  one  did  not  know  that 
they  were  jaguars  with  the  feet  of  bullocks. 
Have  I  ever  seen  them?  .  .  .  No,  but  then  — 
I've  seen  the  prints  of  their  hoofs. 

11  Here  in  the  bottom  of  the  river,  lying  full 
length,  lives  the  great  Mother  of  Waters.  She 
is  so  long  that  she  could  stretch  from  bank  to 
bank  and  lie  sleeping  on  either  side  at  the  same 
time.  That  is  why  she  lies  lengthwise  in  the 
river  bed.  Sometimes  there  is  an  awful,  rum- 
bling noise,  like  an  approaching  earthquake. 
Then  the  waters  of  the  river  are  churned  like 
the  smallest  mountain  torrent  tumbling  over  a 
rock  in  mid-stream.  The  great  snake  lifts  her 
head,  then  her  heavy  body  from  the  stream  bed, 
and  crashes  off  through  the  jungle.  The  track 
she  leaves  behind  her  is  a  desert  waste;  no 
growing  thing  is  left,  and  the  wake  is  as  broad, 
why,  as  broad  as  this  stream,  under  which  she 
is  now  lying,"  and  he  pointed  with  wide  eyes  to 
the  water,  rushing  headlong  to  join  the  Amazon. 

All  the  snakes  of  that  particular  locality  did 
miracles,  so  I  was  told  by  a  wise  man  who  could 
himself  turn  men  into  beasts  at  will. 

[245] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

"  This  river/'  the  guide  concluded,  "  used  to 
flow  up  on  one  side  and  down  on  the  other, 
until  white  men  sailed  upon  it.  Then  one  half 
turned  about,  and  the  river  now  flows  in  but 
one  direction,  as  you  can  see." 

As  the  gloomy,  bottomless  ravines  descend, 
the  forest  becomes  more  dense,  with  murmurs 
of  flowing  water  everywhere.  Mists  hang  from 
above,  barely  concealing  the  jagged,  black 
peaks.  Sheets  of  continuous  foam  veil  the  side 
of  a  polished  cliff.  Water  drips  over  every  prec- 
ipice. Cascades  tumble  from  one  mossed  basin 
to  another  or  let  fall  a  clear  column  into 
a  rock-pool  deeply  buried  in  tropical  vegeta- 
tion. 

Finally  mountains  and  ravines  subside,  and 
with  the  energy  of  one  final,  mighty  leap,  the 
rushing  water  plunges  into  the  heart  of  the 
jungle,  comes  to  rest,  then  glides  out  with  the 
flush  of  a  flood- tide  across  the  Land  of  Water. 

"  As  the  serpents  of  this  basin  exceed  all  other 
serpents  in  size,  so  does  the  Amazon  exceed  all 
other  rivers."  As  the  whirl  of  branches  is  to 
the  trunk  of  a  tree,  as  everything  in  nature  is 
tributary  to  something  else,  so  are  streamlets 

[246] 


THE    UNDISCOVERED    COUNTRY 

in  the  mountains  of  the  snowy  desert  to  this 
mighty  river.  Collecting  itself  upon  the  frozen 
puna  far  up  among  the  clouds,  it  gets  an  impetus 
which  makes  fresh,  wide  stretches  of  ocean 
thousands  of  miles  away. 

So  vast  is  the  Amazon  that,  like  the  Andes 
which  form  a  barrier  to  separate  two  worlds, 
different  species  of  animals  inhabit  its  opposite 
banks.  It  swarms  with  fish  that  will  fight  for 
a  right  to  live,  and  some  of  them,  the  paichi, 
for  instance,  reach  the  length  of  ten  feet  and 
must  be  caught  by  harpooning.  The  water  is 
full  of  swimming  animals.  There  are  river-cows 
like  sea-lions,  and  oceanic  fauna  such  as  frigate 
birds  and  flying-fish.  In  the  mud  along  the 
banks -are  tracks  of  crocodiles  and  tortoises. 

The  Amazon  has  gained  mastery  over  the 
land  and  has  turned  it  into  a  sposhy  ocean, 
interspersed  with  flats  of  jungle  flowers.  A 
watery  labyrinth,  "  an  aquatic  not  a  terres- 
trial basin,"  it  is  the  Mediterranean  of  South 
America.  The  greatest  river  in  the  world  twists 
and  turns  about,  makes  short  cuts  across  its 
own  bends  and  leaves  behind  a  delicious  lagoon 
here,  or  a  little,  land-locked  inlet  there.  The 

1247} 


PERU,   A    LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Victoria  Regia  spreads  its  great,  leathery  leaves, 
and  scarlet  ibises  tilt  about  upon  them. 

This  land  beyond  the  Andes  is  known  as  the 
"  rain-shadow."  The  already  overflowing  rivers 
are  constantly  swelling,  since  it  rains  so  vio- 
lently that  a  stream  of  the  Amazon  valley  can 
rise  fifteen  feet  in  a  single  night.  A  passing 
and  re-passing  is  continually  going  on,  for,  as 
the  water  flows  back  toward  the  ocean,  the 
winds  above  it  are  returning  from  the  Atlantic, 
bringing  rain  to  moisten  the  jungle  and  to  be 
stopped  only  by  the  wall  of  the  Andes. 

Rain  discloses  the  resources  of  the  jungle. 
Plants  push,  burst  upward  in  astonishing  growth. 
Flowers  paint  themselves  with  ineffable  new 
colors  distilled  from  the  rain,  and  those  whose 
day  has  come  and  gone  lie  in  heaps  of  yellow, 
pink,  and  white  petals  on  the  ground,  fallen 
from  beyond  the  tree-tops. 

A  single,  heavy  tapir,  anta,  the  somber- 
colored  wood-cow,  roused  by  the  rain  and 
encouraged  by  the  added  gloom,  wanders  forth 
to  tear  off  new  sprouts  within  its  reach.  Pec- 
caries rustle  by  in  little  droves  —  wild  pigs 
which,  it  is  said,  .will  bite  around  a  tree  if  their 

[248] 


THE    UNDISCOVERED    COUNTRY 

object  of  attack  has  climbed  beyond  reach. 
The  minute,  silky  marmoset,  filled  with  peren- 
nial terror  and  shivering  at  the  rain,  has  crept 
into  shelter,  and  just  daring  to  show  its  wrinkled 
little  face,  howls  dismally. 

It  is  after  a  rain,  too,  when  the  wondrous 
notes  of  the  organista,  the  sweet  flute-bird,  drip 
through  the  trees,  mellow,  melancholy,  yet  with 
a  musical  accuracy  of  pitch  as  clear-cut  as  the 
circle  of  a  drop  of  water  fallen  on  a  slab  of 
alabaster.  These  notes  share  the  mystery  of 
the  vast  silence  itself.  Even  savages  rest  on 
their  paddles  to  listen.  Would  you  capture  the 
magician  and  carry  the  jungle-silence  home? 
You  can  take  the  little  gray  bird  —  but  it  al- 
ways dies  in  captivity. 


[249] 


CHAPTER  III 

JUNGLE  GLOOM  AND  JUNGLE  SHEEN 


SINCE  the  earth  was  first  moistened  by  rain, 
and  plants  first  grew,  no  limit  has  been  set  to 
the  rights  of  vegetation  in  the  jungle.  Its  sway 
is  uncontested.  It  has  known  no  master.  Its 
insatiable  desire  to  reach  up  and  out  and  down 
has  been  uncurbed  and  undirected.  And  heaven 
seems  to  wish  it  well.  Intensest  heat,  light,  and 
moisture  are  showered  upon  it.  Under  such 
conditions,  life  would  spring  spontaneously  into 
being,  were  there  not  myriads  of  progenitors  to 
be  responsible  for  whatever  form  it  chose  to 
take. 

All  the  creative  force  of  nature  is  behind  the 
infinitely  varying  forms,  and  the  frightful  luxu- 
riance of  reproduction.  Vegetation  has  the  ex- 
travagance of  first  geologic  ages,  bursting  with 

[2501 


JUNGLE  GLOOM 

life,  rejoicing  in  weird,  vegetable  arabesques  and 
green  out-thrusts  of  leaves. 

Amazing  trees  yield  coloring  matter  of  yellow, 
red,  and  blue.  Trees  cure  bites  of  snakes,  the 
malignant  manzanillo  infects  any  one  who  sleeps 
beneath  it.  Then  there  is  the  cow-tree  of  milky 
sap,  the  red-wooded  blood  tree,  and  those  fur- 
nishing food  for  curious  animals,  which  trans- 
form it  into  curious  shapes.  Beneath  the  iron- 
wood,  whose  sharp  edges  are  hard  as  steel,  crawls 
the  sensitive  plant.  There  are  whole  forests  of 
cinchona,  whose  beautiful  flowers  are  forgotten 
because  of  the  value  of  the  bark.  The  dead 
man's  tree  grows  here,  whose  stems  are  sucked 
by  witch-doctors  to  produce  a  trance;  also  the 
wonderful  tree  of  rain,  which  Boussingault  re- 
ferred to  when  he  said:  "  By  the  light  of  the 
moon  we  could  distinctly  see  drops  of  water 
dripping  from  the  branches."  The  drier  the 
night  the  more  water  it  condenses,  letting  it  fall 
upon  the  ground  beneath.  Ponderous  leafage 
overarches  great  trunks,  columns  of  a  giant's 
castle,  each  with  its  peculiar  color.  While  some 
are  smooth,  others  are  deeply  fissured  or  armed 
with  long  spikes.  Most  of  the  tree- trunks  are 

[251] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

indistinguishable  for  the  mass  of  vines  "  sculp- 
tured "  upon  them.  They  cleave  to  the  smooth 
bark,  darting  out  roots  as  they  ascend.  '  The 
green  eaves  of  foliage  seem  supported  by  pillars 
of  leaves." 

Tapering  ribbons  sway  to  and  fro,  tangling 
themselves  in  the  long  moss-beards.  "  Green, 
fleshy  chains "  festoon  themselves  upon  the 
branches,  and  hang  heavily  on  slender  stems. 
They  stretch  taut  from  one  tree  to  another,  or 
rigid,  fasten  tree-tops  to  the  ground.  The  whole 
jungle  is  knit  together.  If  a  supporting  tree 
falls,  the  confused  masses  of  lianas  adhering  to 
it  snatch  at  whatever  is  nearest  for  a  fresh  start. 
They  twist  about  each  other  tighter  and  tighter, 
gaining  always  a  firmer  and  firmer  hold  as  they 
ascend.  Far  up  above,  they  will  weave  back 
and  forth  a  close  fabric,  spreading  out  wide 
roofs  of  flowers. 

Indistinguishable  tree  from  creeper,  parasite 
from  supporter,  all  are  clamoring  for  space  and 
light  and  air.  Those  which  have  struggled 
through  to  the  top  reach  toward  the  scalding 
sun  or  alternate  cooling  deluge,  riotous,  irre- 
pressible in  vigor,  radiant  with  color,  distilling 

[252] 


JUNGLE  GLOOM 

intense  perfume,  drooping  with  the  succulence 
of  their  own  leaves  and  stems,  breaking  with 
the  weight  of  their  over-developed  fruit. 

Vegetation  invades  everything.  It  even 
shoots  out  over  the  water,  covering  it  with 
lovely  forms.  Hardly  a  growing  thing  can  get 
its  impulse  directly  from  the  soil.  That  was 
long  ago  preempted.  There  must  be  other 
things  to  grow  upon  or  in.  Wherever  there  is  a 
suspicion  of  foothold,  a  new  form  of  life  springs 
up  spontaneously,  gleaning  nourishment  from 
whatever  it  touches,  exuberantly  prolific  from 
the  start,  parasites  one  and  all,  living  at  the 
expense  of  some  earlier  comer. 

Even  parasites  have  their  own  parasitic 
growth.  Parasites  flourish  as  trees  self-grafted 
upon  trees.  Draperies  and  tapestries  and  mo- 
tionless cascades,  this  inundation  of  parasitic 
life  falls  back  again  to  the  ground  in  great 
growing  clumps.  What  indeed  is  a  para- 
site? 

Little  rifts  of  color  have  collected  here  and 
there,  concentrated  deep  in  the  nooks  and  crev- 
ices of  trees,  moulded  into  orchid  form.  Some 
are  tiny  as  mosses  and  grow  upon  the  ground, 

[253] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

dewy  -  looking,  little  violet  -  colored  flowers. 
Some  lie  upon  the  water,  some  droop  over  the 
edge  of  precipices,  their  great  mass  of  fleshy, 
aerial  roots  sucking  damp  nourishment  from  the 
air.  Certain  trees  seem  destined  by  nature  as 
orchid  gardens.  Numberless  varieties,  each 
with  its  peculiar  bearing,  perch  upon  the  limbs, 
night-scented  blossoms  with  a  spongy  texture 
fringed  and  fluted  in  a  thousand  ways;  beauti- 
ful monsters  of  crimson  and  black,  whose  queer 
little  phantom  faces,  with  beards  of  fine  hairs, 
make  mouths  at  you.  Hot  and  moist,  the  im- 
perceptible odor  of  each  mingles  with  the  mass 
of  other  imperceptible  odors,  oppressive  at  last 
by  sheer  force  of  numbers. 

The  habits  of  orchids,  if  so  they  may  be 
called,  are  amazing;  for  example:  their  attrac- 
tion of  insects  and  means  of  scattering  their 
pollen  about  on  a  moth's  body;  their  bright 
color  luring  day-flyers  and  their  strong  odor 
night-flyers  to  the  same  flower;  the  elastic  flaps, 
a  resource  of  others  for  a  similar  end.  As  Dar- 
win said:  "  With  parts  capable  of  movement 
and  other  parts  endowed  with  something  so 
like,  though  no  doubt  really  different  from  sen- 

[254] 


JUNGLE  GLOOM 

sibility,  they  seem  to  us  in  our  ignorance  as  if 
modeled  by  the  wildest  caprice." 

Whimsical  and  wayward,  restrained  by  no 
precedent,  an  orchid  dares  defiance  in  all  the 
properties  it  possesses,  odor,  form,  and  color, 
so  that  the  line  of  its  descent  is  sometimes  im- 
possible to  distinguish.  This  anarchist  of  flow- 
ers throws  out  an  unexpected  leaf  or  petal 
wherever  it  chooses,  and  if  interfered  with,  re- 
fuses even  to  produce  its  own  blossoms,  veering 
off  in  independence.  The  most  elegant  flower 
that  grows,  able  to  conventionalize  even  nature 
herself  by  lusciously  designed  leaves  —  patterns 
whose  suitable  background  would  be  courts  of 
kings  —  riots  here  alone  in  "  languid  magnifi- 
cence," merely  glanced  at  by  a  passing  hum- 
ming-bird. 

If  a  tree  or  a  vine  has  a  little  less  succulence 
than  its  neighbor  or  a  little  less  vital  impulse, 
nature  calmly  watches  it  pounced  upon  and 
extinguished.  No  one  "  compassionately  tries 
to  save  the  unfit  from  the  consequences  of  their 
unfitness."  Having  endowed  this  prolific  land, 
the  lavish  elements  can  withdraw  and  survey 
unmoved  the  scattering  showers  of  seeds,  that 

[255] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

prodigal  industry  of  plants  in  busily  perfect- 
ing seeds  which  will  never  be  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  grow.  So  little  chance  has  a  seed  that 
new  attempts  at  life  are  more  secure  if  supplied 
by  the  energy  of  the  parent  stem.  The  elements 
are  not  responsible  for  the  death-struggle  of 
vegetation  which  results.  As  far  as  they  are 
concerned,  each  seed  that  falls  and  each  little 
shoot  that  springs  upward  would  be  given  an 
equal  chance.  But  every  form  being  equally 
favored,  its  neighbors  contest  its  right  to  live. 
Cooperation  to  make  life  possible  at  all,  only 
begins  when  united  force  is  needed  to  conquer 
a  common  foe.  Life  here  is  for  viper  and  vam- 
pire as  well  as  for  butterfly,  and  the  parasite 
has  an  equal  chance  with  the  benevolent  vine. 
It  is  a  battlefield  where  militant  nature  fights 
in  civil  warfare  through  the  ages.  Plants  once 
given  birth  demand  the  right  to  make  the  most 
of  their  own  particular  form  of  life,  fighting  for 
sun,  fighting  for  air,  fighting  for  the  right  to  live. 
Ironically  enough,  warfare  is  fiercest  between 
forms  most  closely  allied.  "  They  interlace, 
strangle,  and  devour  each  other."  Parasitic 
alliances  are  possible  only  between  very  diver- 

[256] 


JUNGLE  GLOOM 

gent  forms,  each  benefiting  by  the  use  of  what 
the  other  does  not  need.  Parasites  are  leapt 
upon  by  other  parasites;  there  is  strife  even 
among  them.  Forever  fighting  with  each  other, 
.they  all  suffer  equally  from  hereditary  enemies 
descending  from  above  or  creeping  up  from  below, 
capturing  by  attack  or  poisoning  by  stealth. 

Plants  not  only  crowd  their  neighbors  out  of 
the  soil,  they  seem  to  dispute  the  air  as  well. 
Each  begrudges  the  other  a  breathing  space. 
The  ingenuity  of  nature  is  taxed  to  invent  com- 
pensations to  each  for  lack  of  what  it  has  a  right 
to  expect  as  its  due.  An  impenetrable  disguise 
of  buttresses  is  substituted  for  roots  and  want 
of  underground  space.  Air-roots  drop  from 
branches.  Smaller  trees,  adapted  to  the  dim- 
ness, live  in  the  shade  of  larger  ones.  Nature 
uses  every  subterfuge,  restrained  by  nothing 
known  as  customary.  Plants  maintain  a  life 
whose  pertinacity  we  have  no  scale  for  measur- 
ing. Each  asserts  its  own  individuality  and 
insists  upon  it  with  inexhaustible  energy.  Each 
is  convinced  of  its  own  desirability,  convinced 
it  was  intended  to  live,  proclaiming  that  in- 
tention to  the  death  of  its  neighbor. 

[257] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

Out  of  the  remains  of  the  dead  arises  a  new 
generation  with  an  increase  of  vital  impulse. 
The  instant  a  plant  has  reached  a  sense  of  com- 
pleteness, it  is  sprung  upon,  twitched  from  decay 
into  the  vitality  of  some  lovely  form  whose  time 
has  come.  Whatever  lapses  into  the  past  is  at 
once  metamorphosed.  Whatever  should  look 
forward  for  opportunity  would  be  snuffed  out 
by  some  exuberant  growth  determined  on  im- 
mediate perfection. 

There  can  be  no  seasons  in  the  jungle,  no 
general  periods  of  growth,  maturity,  or  rest. 
All  stages  of  development  are  flaunting  from 
independent  plants  in  a  single  locality.  Each 
is  appropriating  whatever  it  can  use  in  the 
elements  or  in  its  neighbor  to  weave  into  its 
own  perfecting  tissue.  Each  is  as  little  influ- 
enced by  the  other  as  are  two  trees  rubbing 
against  each  other  with  the  wind,  mingling  their 
branches  and  blending  their  foliage.  Though 
forced  during  a  lifetime  to  closest  proximity,  they 
are  members  of  remote  families,  and  the  nature 
of  neither  is  modified  in  the  slightest  degree. 

Indeed,  all  seasons  concentrate  on  a  single 
tree;  for  some  of  the  massive  fruits  require 

[258] 


JUNGLE    GLOOM 

more  than  a  year  to  ripen,  so  that  fruit  is  matur- 
ing and  flowers  are  budding  on  the  same  tree. 

Only  heat  can  penetrate.  Light  is  almost 
excluded  by  the  unbroken  canopy  of  interlaced 
branches.  It  is  left  up  above,  absorbed  into 
whirls  of  vivid  flower  or  expanding  the  luscious 
leaves.  Heat  and  moisture  are  imprisoned. 
Plants  flourish  in  "  the  boundless,  deep  immen- 
sity of  shade."  Left  in  wan  half-light  they  push 
up  into  the  "  green  gloaming,"  adapted  to  the 
dimness  yet  straining  upward  to  the  light  which 
would  kill  them  if  they  could  reach  it.  Even 
bats  sometimes  make  mistakes  and  emerge  at 
noonday,  unhooking  themselves  from  branches 
on  which  the  sun  has  never  shone.  All  forms 
are  confused,  and  the  strange  shapes  but  half- 
seen  are  concealed  by  others  no  less  vague. 

Deep  within  the  wilderness,  more  silent  than 
the  noiseless  solitude  itself,  lies  a  mysterious 
lagoon  sacred  to  the  giant  Mother  of  Waters. 
All  about,  coiled  in  the  half-putrescent,  vege- 
table mould,  are  myriads  of  venomous  creatures, 
gliding,  writhing,  crawling  in  and  out.  Minute 
snakes,  whose  bite  is  death,  curl  in  tendrils  or 
lie  like  coral  necklaces  upon  the  leaves.  Larger 

[259] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

ones  drape  in  vinelike  garlands  overhead,  to  be 
distinguished  from  a  blossoming  festoon  only  by 
a  sudden,  loose-swinging  end. 

But  the  pool !  What  wet  blackness  and  horrid 
mystery!  The  surface  of  the  water  is  never 
ruffled  by  a  breeze.  It  has  no  moods.  Unper- 
turbed in  perpetual  gloom  it  lies  in  quivering 
stagnation,  oozing  nauseous  odors  under  the 
twilight  of  a  full,  tropical  noon.  No  roseate 
spoonbill,  no  delicate  white  heron  tilts  about 
upon  its  banks.  The  black,  stagnant  water  can 
barely  cover  the  solid,  seething  mass  of  "  hairy, 
scaly,  spiny,  blear-eyed,  bulbous,  shapeless 
monsters,  without  name  .  .  .  wallowing,  inter- 
wriggling,  and  devouring  each  other." 

Here  sleeps  the  Mother  of  Waters,  conge- 
nially imbedded,  her  shining  coils  slipping  about 
over  each  other  —  the  great  yacumama  —  the 
mighty  boa-constrictor,  who  can  swallow  almost 
any  creature  whole,  and  whose  breath  withers 
any  beast  lured  within  reach  by  her  fascina- 
ting poison.  Humanely  she  intoxicates  before 
squeezing  the  unyielding  bones  to  pulp  of  di- 
gestible consistency. 

Sometimes  she  unfolds  her  darkly  iridescent 
[260] 


JUNGLE    SHEEN 

coils  out  into  the  hospitable  closeness  of  the 
jungle.  Laboriously  she  winds  upward  in  over- 
arching trees;  but,  as  if  too  languid,  leaves 
part  of  her  frightful  weight  dragging  below. 
She  looks  moss-grown,  like  the  stem  of  an  old 
tree,  and  treelike,  remains  motionless  for  days 
at  a  time.  When  she  does  wander  forth  in 
search  of  prey,  a  track  follows  through  the  lush, 
yielding  vegetation  —  her  huge  weight  linger- 
ing heavily  upon  succulent  stems. 


II 

The  atmosphere  is  full  of  color  —  weird, 
miasmic  exhalations.  Next  to  the  shade  linger- 
ing under  the  dark  velvet  foliage  on  the  edges 
of  streams,  the  glossy  leaves  toss  off  sheets  of 
silver  light  or  reflect  a  "  russet  glamour  "  from 
their  under  sides.  Beds  of  yellow  butterflies 
settle  along  river  banks  and  concentrate  the 
sunlight  with  blinding  intensity.  Every  leaf 
seems  to  blaze  like  a  gem;  even  the  black 
shadows  pulsate  with  inner  light.  It  is  part  of 
jungle  mystery  that  even  the  light  comes  in 
iridescence. 

[261] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

Legions  of  beautifully  colored  spiders  silently 
spin  their  geometric  webs.  Insects  all  dipped 
in  silver,  with  waving  antennae  laid  back  along 
their  heads,  red  beetles  with  golden  heads  and 
wings  of  chintz,  buzz  to  and  fro.  Moss-grown 
leaf -insects  —  ossified,  living  scarabs  —  walk 
about  on  tree-trunks.  Stinging  bees  and  wasps 
fill  chinks  of  jungle  trees  with  wild  honey. 
Myriads  of  ants  swarm:  driver  ants;  parasol 
ants  carrying  a  bit  of  leaf  about  over  their 
heads;  fever-bearing  ants,  and  ants  that  live 
in  the  hollow,  white  stems  of  the  cecropia  tree 
and  furnish  the  sloth's  food.  Centipedes  hurry 
by,  legs  moving  with  "  invisible  rapidity  like  a 
vibration,"  and  numerous  flies,  ticks,  mos- 
quitoes, cicadas,  dragon-flies.  Some  of  these 
strange  beings  need  two  or  three  years  of  larval 
life  to  prepare  for  a  flight  of  a  single  hour,  pos- 
sibly after  sunset.  What  a  limited  idea  of  the 
world  must  they  have  who  never  see  the  light 
of  day! 

We  are  assured  that  the  unseen  world  is  a 
very  substantial  place;  so  is  the  microscopic. 
And  an  ear-trumpet  reveals  a  new  universe  of 
sound.  What  a  region  of  ultra-violet  murmur- 

[262] 


JUNGLE    SHEEN 

ings  must  lie  beyond  that  we  never  catch  at  all ! 
If  only  an  elemental  apperception  can  grasp 
the  vastness  of  the  jungle,  what  can  be  said  of 
the  delicacy  of  its  silver-point  drawing?  For 
here  is  greatness  on  the  invisible  scale,  "  a 
creation  at  the  same  time  immense  and  imper- 
ceptible." 

Side  by  side  with  sloths,  ant-eaters,  and  ar- 
madillos, dwarf  descendants  of  mastodon  days, 
still  lumbering  about  undeveloped  in  spite 
of  their  ancient  lineage,  humming-birds  have 
flashed  through  the  ages.  They  have  profited 
by  cycles  of  centuries  to  elaborate  their  little 
bodies  beyond  imagination  with  pendent  beards, 
crests,  waving  ear-tufts,  and  ornaments  colored 
in  fantastic  manner.  Their  tails,  fashioned  in 
queer  shapes,  always  consist  of  ten  feathers. 
Even  the  tiny,  sharp  feet,  minute  as  they  are, 
differ  greatly  in  form  and  are  sometimes  cov- 
ered with  a  delicate,  white  down.  There  are 
feathers  on  a  humming-bird's  eyelids.  The 
little  saw-edged  tongues  for  extracting  insects 
from  flower-honey  all  differ.  Their  bills  are  as 
long  as  their  bodies,  and  their  tails  are  twice  as 
long. 

[263] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

What  can  be  said  of  their  color,  brighter  than 
any  other  in  nature?  The  hue  of  every  precious 
stone,  the  luster  of  every  metal  sparkles  from 
some  part  of  the  diminutive  body.  Often  only 
a  twinkling  of  emerald-gold-green  or  ruby- 
colored  light  reveals  their  passing  — 

"  A  route  of  evanescence  with  a  revolving  wheel!  " 

Sometimes  the  flash  comes  from  throat  or  back 
or  brow  of  iridescence,  sometimes  from  a  body 
sheathed  in  little  gold  scales;  sometimes  from 
the  very  tips  of  long  white  feathers  frilling  the 
neck  about.  The  colors  come  and  go,  shift  and 
change  with  every  motion,  "  embers  flung  about 
by  in  visible  hands."  The  wing  feathers  are  gray. 
No  eye  could  discern  anything  but  a  dusky  film, 
so  a  bright  display  would  be  lost! 

And  all  this  is  within  a  thimble's  compass, 
for  the  smallest  of  all  humming-birds  grows  in 
Peru.  It  is  hardly  larger  than  a  bumblebee,  and 
the  giant  of  the  race  measures  less  than  a  swal- 
low. Doctor  Brehm  says  the  Dwarf  Hum- 
ming-bird is  the  only  one  that  has  a  song. 

There  is  as  much  diversity  in  the  names  of 
the  humming-bird  as  in  everything  else  pertain- 

[264] 


JUNGLE    SHEEN 

ing  to  it:  Tresses-of-the-day-star,  Rays-of-the- 
sun,  Sun-gems,  Sun-stars,  Flame-bearers,  Frou- 
frou, Pecker-of-flowers,  Flower-sipper,  Honey- 
sucker,  Sipper-of -roses,  Fly-bird,  and  the  sweet 
Colibri.  It  has,  besides,  many  local  names,  as 
Tominejo,  tomin  being  the  smallest  weight. 

Birds  migrate  south  from  the  tropics  as  well 
as  north.  The  humming-bird  whirls  through 
the  jungle  and  luxuriant  valleys  of  the  Andes, 
out  to  islands  in  the  Pacific,  and  follows  the 
fuchsia  down  to  the  very  boundaries  of  barren- 
ness in  the  tail  of  South  America.  A  mere  dab 
of  brain  can  engineer  this  infinitesimal  motor 
from  Patagonia  to  Canada.  One  minute  Flame- 
bearer  lives  only  inside  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano  in  Veragua,  marked  with  red  like  the 
fire-stealer  wren  of  Brittany,  and  many  battle 
with  storms  of  the  high  Andes  and  can  be  seen 
mingling  their  vivid  flashes  with  snow.  They 
who  live  by  means  of  flowers!  One  called 
Sappho,  a  blend  of  red  and  green,  lives  upon 
the  bleak  heights  of  Bolivia,  frequenting  the 
haunts  of  the  condor. 

It  has  been  thought  that  the  humming-bird 
has  no  wish-bone,  its  frame  being  more  compact 

[265] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

than  such  construction  would  allow,  in  order  to 
withstand  the  immense  strain  of  its  wings  — 
immense,  yes,  measured  by  millimeters.  At 
any  rate  the  largest  organ  is  the  breast  muscle, 
and  the  heart  is  three  times  as  large  as  the 
stomach.  Its  senses  are  alert,  and  a  well  de- 
veloped skull  could  prove  the  excellence  of  the 
brain  beneath  did  not  its  habits  do  so. 

The  humming-bird  always  trusts  itself  to  the 
air  for  however  brief  a  distance,  and  flings  its 
supple  body  about  from  one  flower  to  another 
in  vibrating  flight.  Now  it  hovers  near  without 
disordering  a  petal,  now  it  hangs  from  tall 
grasses  by  the  tip  of  its  thornlike  bill,  a  spark- 
ling of  wings  with  spurts  of  precious  stones  in  a 
setting  of  petals,  lost  in  another  instant  in  wide 
air. 

Never  smutted  by  earth,  because  never  touch- 
ing it,  the  humming-bird  juggles  among  the 
flowers.  It  never  follows  all  the  flowers  of  a 
single  bush  nor  even  exhausts  all  the  sweetness 
of  a  single  flower  —  "a  dart,  a  glance,  a  sip,  and 
away;  "  butterflies,  a  symbol  of  caprice,  are  not 
more  fickle.  This  utterly  erratic  creature  per- 
forming its  aerial  gambols  holds  within  itself  the 

[266] 


JUNGLE    SHEEN 

reason  for  its  being  unmolested  by  any  enemy 
—  the  chase  not  being  worth  the  morsel ! 

Ineffable  is  the  whole  field  of  its  labor.  The 
coarsest  materials  of  its  nests  are  the  finest 
straws  it  can  pick  up.  Inside  they  are  lined 
with  down  and  spiders'  webs.  Consistently 
they  are  attached  to  a  pendent  branch  or  long- 
swinging  vine.  Thither  the  humming-bird  flies 
to  supply  a  family's  microscopic  wants. 

To  a  giant  looking  through  a  microscope, 
what  a  revelation  of  the  infinite  industry  of 
nature  in  worlds  beyond  the  grasp  of  any  sense 
of  his,  the  humming-bird  would  be! 


[267] 


CHAPTER  IV 

ANIMALS  OF   DARKNESS  AND   LIGHT 


WHAT  a  land  of  silence!  The  vast  forest 
seems  wholly  uninhabited  save  for  the  chatter 
of  a  passing  train  of  harlequin  parrots  or  angry 
apes.  And  yet  it  is  not  silence.  There  is  the 
great  movement  of  lapsing  and  becoming  per- 
petually going  on;  both  composition  and  de- 
composition rustling  on  toward  completion. 
They  are  mere  phases  of  that  "  illimitable  sun 
force  which  destroys  as  swiftly  as  it  generates 
and  generates  again  as  swiftly  as  it  destroys." 

"  So  fast  do  the  flowers  expand  that  an  actual 
heat,  which  may  be  tested  by  the  thermometer, 
is  given  off  during  fructification."  The  tepid 
water  forces  all  growing  things  to  prodigious 
size.  Exuberance  seems  to  have  no  boundaries. 
The  length  of  the  young  shoots  is  only  less 
amazing  than  their  growth  in  a  single  day. 

[268] 


ANIMALS 

Leaves  expand  until  they  are  twenty  feet  long, 
and  ferns  tangle  their  own  fronds  in  haste  to 
push  out  to  the  utmost  limit  of  their  nature. 
One  sees  things  growing  in  the  damp  heat  as 
one  hears  a  yucca  palm  grow. 

But  where  growth  is  on  a  stupendous  scale, 
there  decay  is  exuberant,  for  "  the  powers  that 
build  are  the  powers  that  putrefy."  Above  are 
light,  warmth,  and  moisture:  such  are  conditions 
of  growth.  Below  are  darkness,  warmth,  and 
moisture :  such  are  conditions  of  decay.  Which 
is  more  effectual,  that  mighty  power  of  evo- 
lution elaborating  "the  rain-water  hurrying 
aloft  "  into  tissue  of  leaf  and  flower,  or  those 
great  forces  of  dissolution  which  can  so  soon 
transmute  the  fallen  trunk  of  iron-wood  into  a 
pregnant,  humid  mound?  It  merely  lapses  into 
those  elements  composing  it,  and  is  instantly 
absorbed  by  fresh  leaves  culminating  to-night. 

The  noble  heat  blends  the  smell  of  laboring 
sap  and  that  of  aromatic  mosses  with  the  pun- 
gent odor  of  decay,  the  damp  smell  of  death 
with  those  sweet  poisons  which  drip  off  the 
trees  and  envelop  like  a  caress.  The  incense 
tree  was  described  by  Martin  Fernandez  de 

[269] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Enciza  in  the  early  sixteenth  century.  "  In- 
cense doth  hang  at  its  boughs,"  he  said,  "  as 
the  ice  doth  at  the  tiles  of  a  house  in  the  winter 
season."  Over-ripe  fruit  drops  smashing  on 
the  ground  with  scent  of  strawberries.  A 
musky  humming-bird  leaves  behind  a  thin  trail 
of  heady  perfume.  The  air  is  filled  with  vege- 
table breath,  weird,  far-off  blossoms,  mere 
ghosts  of  fragrance  mingling  in  a  wave  of  sweet- 
ness. Smell  is  indeed  man's  most  emotional 
sense.  It  gives  a  poignancy  to  a  remembered 
scene  which  no  detailed  picture  can,  and  sharp- 
ens the  whole  sight  perception.  An  entire  chap- 
ter should  be  written  about  jungle-perfume. 

The  silence  of  day  is  succeeded  by  the 
"  soundless  tune  "  that  fills  the  night.  It  surges 
up  from  below  and  shuts  down  from  above. 
Pervasive  as  the  murmuring  of  water,  it  spreads 
out  through  the  night,  pierced  by  a  sudden 
brilliant  squeak  near  at  hand.  With  darkness 
settles  a  humming,  booming,  drumming,  croak- 
ing, deafening  uproar  from  thousands  of  diversi- 
fied insect  throats  filling  up  every  chink  of  space, 
each  one  crowding  out  the  other.  Insects  here 
are  not  a  miniature,  far-off  chorus,  one  ingre- 

[270] 


ANIMALS 

dient  of  a  summer  night,  but  overwhelming, 
terrifying,  absorbing  the  dark  atmosphere. 

Mysterious  animals  live  in  the  depths  of  the 
ocean  where  no  ray  of  light  has  ever  pierced. 
They  light  the  way  for  their  own  fishing,  as  the 
glow-worm  is  struck  by  its  own  brightness  before 
seeing  any  other.  Fire-beetles  and  phosphor- 
escent caterpillars  and  flickering  fireflies  —  little 
stitches  of  a  shining  thread  in  the  soft,  verdured 
blackness  of  the  tepid  night  —  make  the  pri- 
meval forest  discernible. 

The  true  life  of  the  jungle  begins  with  dark- 
ness and  ends  with  light.  As  if  the  habitual 
gloom  were  not  deep  enough,  jungle  animals 
wait  until  night  has  enclosed  them  further  to 
carry  on  their  life  activities,  those  weird  crea- 
tures which  lurk  in  the  shade,  primeval  instincts 
always  alert,  living  on  suff ranee  in  this  land  of 
vegetation.  They  have  persisted  since  early 
geologic  ages,  the  only  remnants  of  their  kind, 
haunting  the  nights  from  then  until  now. 
Dwarfs  of  a  former  age,  growing  constantly 
smaller  and  fewer  and  less  important,  they  will 
dwindle  through  coming  ages  until  zoological 
gardens  can  no  longer  be  supplied,  and  their 

[271] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

toothless  skulls  in  glass  cases  will  be  the  only 
evidence  that  they  ever  existed. 

The  antediluvian  ant-eater  hunches  along  on 
his  stiff,  curved  claws,  stopping  now  and  then 
to  rake  out  a  crowded  ant-hill,  whose  compact, 
crawling  interior  he  cleans  out  with  an  efficient 
slash  of  his  spiral  tongue. 

The  giant  armadillo,  the  glyptodon  of  former 
ages,  developed  a  complete  coat-of-mail  by  which 
his  small  descendant  is  still  protected.  He  can 
open  and  shut  the  scales  at  will,  hiding  himself 
inside  them.  He  trundles  to  and  fro,  burrowing 
out  well-flavored  roots.  His  voice  is  dull,  with- 
out ring  or  expression.  But  his  little  shell  is  used 
as  the  bowl  of  a  curious,  three-stringed  guitar 
from  which  natives  can  coax  sweet  sounds. 

The  tapir  is  another  twilight  animal,  pro- 
tected by  his  enormously  thick  hide.  He  snuffs 
about  with  his  long  snout,  follows  paths  made 
by  himself  to  the  water,  and  sounds  his  queer 
whistle  as  alarm. 

The  cavernous  croak  of  the  violet-colored 
throat-bladder  matches  the  twilight.  The  goat- 
sucker, with  softly  flapping  wings,  rises  to  greet 
the  night,  and  from  deep  within  the  forest  re- 

[272] 


sounds  the  drawling  cry  of  the  sloth.    His  small, 
ghoulish  face  peers  into  the  oncoming  darkness. 

Night  settles.  Bloodthirsty  bats  emerge, 
bright  eyes  flashing  eagerly.  Leaf -nosed  vam- 
pires, whose  empire  is  gloom,  are  prepared  for 
their  nightly  bacchanale. 

When  utter  blackness  has  obliterated  the 
jungle,  the  carbunculo  slinks  slowly  out  of  the 
thickets.  "  If  followed,  he  opens  a  flap  in  his 
forehead  from  under  which  an  extraordinary 
brilliant  and  dazzling  light  issues,  proceeding 
from  a  precious  stone;  any  foolhardy  person 
who  ventures  to  grasp  at  it  is  blinded,  the  flap 
is  let  down  under  the  long  black  hair  and  the 
animal  disappears  into  darkness.  The  Incas 
believed  in  him.  The  viceroys  in  their  official 
instructions  to  the  missionaries,  placed  the 
carbunculo  in  the  first  order  of  desiderata." 


II 

"  The  velvet  nap  which  on  his  wings  doth  lie, 
The  silken  down  with  which  his  back  is  dight, 
His  broad,  outstretched  horns,  his  hairy  thighs, 
His  glorious  colors,  and  his  glistening  eyes!  " 

SPENSER,  Muiopotmos 

[273] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

With  great  broad  strokes  the  tropical  butter- 
fly descends  at  sunset  time  to  the  jungle  pool. 
The  soft  color  of  its  wings  is  hardly  distinguish- 
able from  the  mold.  It  sips  the  water  quietly. 

A  small  bird,  ready  for  a  feast,  swoops  down 
with  a  whir  of  wings  .  .  .  but  where  is  the 
butterfly?  In  its  place  is  a  fierce  owl,  bulging 
eyes  flashing,  and  every  feather  on  his  head 
bristling  in  eagerness  for  his  prey.  The  little 
bird  of  supper-intentions  has  precipitately  de- 
parted, never  to  return,  a  permanent  lesson 
learned  in  the  terror  of  an  instant;  yet  it  was 
learned  from  the  under  side  of  a  butterfly. 

Who  so  much  as  a  butterfly  is  a  child  of  the 
sun?  Evoked  by  his  warmth,  it  comes  forth 
with  all  faculties  developed  for  the  fullest  en- 
joyment of  a  new  life,  in  which  it  seeks  out  the 
sun-spaces  in  the  damp  forest.  What  a  direct 
response  to  warmth  in  the  up  and  down  motion 
of  a  butterfly's  wings,  wide-spread  on  a  sunny 
mass  of  leaves!  How  quickly  it  folds  its  lus- 
trous wings  and  sinks,  drooping,  upon  a  flower 
when  the  sun  goes  in,  as  rainbows  disappear  at 
the  sun's  withdrawal! 

Nor  does  its  sun-worship  end  here;  for  Iris, 
[274] 


ANIMALS 

symbol  of  the  sun,  is  imprisoned  upon  its  wings. 
Those  magic  wings!  Nature  writes  upon  them 
all  the  changes  which  the  organism  undergoes, 
the  patterns  of  the  minute  feathers,  the  direction 
of  the  fine  veins,  their  shapes,  their  pencillings 
varying  with  the  slightest  external  change. 
Each  can  be  distinguished  from  all  the  rest  by 
what  is  written  on  these  evanescent  tablets,  the 
most  delicate  on  which  laws  have  ever  been 
inscribed. 

The  Peruvian  butterflies  have  a  world-wide 
reputation,  from  the  triple-tailed  theclas  making 
up  in  elegance  of  form  for  their  diminutive  size, 
to  the  azure  morphos,  those  noble  insects  as 
large  as  two  hands  laid  side  by  side,  the  desider- 
atum, of  collectors  who  press  their  burnished 
wings  between  glass  walls.  Abnormal  tails 
reach  in  abnormal  directions  like  ingrowing 
horns,  sharply  pointed  and  oddly  curved.  An 
imp-like  dot  of  silver  near  by  calls  attention  to 
them.  Bold,  uneven  blotches  of  gold  and  black 
are  surrounded  by  demure,  parallel  lines.  A 
spot  of  crimson  pulsates  in  the  midst  of  a  whole 
wing  of  iridescence.  The  extravagant  creature 
carries  his  black  velvet  body  about  on  yellow 

[275] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

legs.  Some  are  as  finely  mottled  as  partridge 
feathers.  In  others  the  design  just  glimmers 
through  mother-of-pearl.  Some  are  transparent 
in  color,  a  stained  glass  window  leaded  in  design 
with  living  veins.  The  spaces  between  veins, 
however  small,  are  exquisitely  fashioned,  and 
always  the  corresponding  patterns  of  the  two 
sides  are  perfectly  aligned.  Some  are  trans- 
parent like  dragon-flies'  wings.  Some  are  almost 
veinless,  visible  only  by  a  dip  of  color  on  the 
tip  of  the  wing  —  phantom  butterflies.  From 
others,  apparently  colorless,  certain  lights  can 
flash  the  segment  of  a  rainbow. 

What  fine  fitness  in  a  French  expression  for 
the  blues  —  papillons  noirs! 

Many  of  the  most  brilliant  butterflies  are  so 
colored  because  they  are  unpalatable,  even  un- 
eatable, flaunting  their  warnings  in  the  face  of 
the  lizard,  which  might  eat  them  unawares  were 
they  not  so  conspicuous.  They  can  flutter 
lazily  about,  with  no  attempt  at  concealment, 
preserved  by  their  own  poison.  In  making  the 
injurious  butterfly  resplendent,  nature  saves 
both  the  butterfly  and  the  bird  which  might 
have  gulped  it  down. 

[276] 


ANIMALS 

Others  are  preserved  by  having  adopted  bark- 
designs  or  leaf -color  or  twig-shapes.  Some  even 
float  about  mimicking  each  other,  if  advan- 
tageous to  do  so.  Some  gain  protection  by 
imitating  the  brilliantly  colored  but  uneatable 
butterflies  for  which  they  are  mistaken.  Mim- 
icry or  warning,  each  protects  as  is  most  bene- 
ficial, by  concealing  or  making  conspicuous. 
Seen  and  recognized,  they  are  not  molested;  or, 
hidden,  they  escape  notice. 

How  varied  are  their  habits!  Poisonous  ones 
fly  slowly.  Others  merely  frisk  about,  toying 
with  life,  air,  and  sunlight;  skirt-dancers  they 
are  called  (megaluras),  "  sown  and  carried  away 
again  by  the  light  air."  Some  heavy-bodied 
butterflies  gain  protection  by  flight  so  rapid  as 
to  make  them  mistaken  for  humming-birds. 
The  broad,  strong  strokes  of  the  wide- winged 
morphos  float  them  across  wide  rivers.  The 
flight  of  butterflies  is  a  biologist's  problem,  as 
well  as  their  colored  juices  and  seasonal  forms. 

Some,  flying  low,  have  their  greatest  brilliancy 
on  the  under  side  of  the  wings;  others,  flying 
high,  are  dull  underneath  to  protect  them  from 
enemies  below,  as  the  bell-bird,  whose  home  is 

[277] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF    CONTRASTS 

in  the  dazzling  sunshine  above  the  tree- tops,  is 
made  invisible  to  any  eyes  looking  upward  by 
its  snow-white  plumage  and  transparent  wings. 

"  Crepuscular  "  butterflies  emerge  at  sunset. 
Such  are  the  caligos,  amazing  creatures  equipped 
on  the  under  side  with  an  owl's  head,  which  can 
terrify  their  pursuers  by  merely  turning  wrong 
side  out.  All  animals  are  suspicious  of  a  strange- 
looking  eye;  and  at  dusk,  when  the  butterfly 
descends  to  the  jungle  pool  to  drink,  the  owl- 
eyes  are  particularly  effective.  The  harmless 
butterfly  spreads  the  one  view  of  itself  to  the 
enemy  which  could  save  its  life,  and  continues 
slowly  to  sip  the  dark  water. 

Some  butterflies  stop  in  the  gloomiest  shades 
of  the  forest  in  darkness  of  noon.  They  all  love 
the  damp,  and  quantities  of  them  surround 
puddles.  Some  settle  with  wings  erect,  some 
expand  them  and  rest  head  downward,  pressed 
closely  against  the  supporting  surface.  The 
"  swallow-tails  "  never  allow  their  long  tails  to 
touch  anything.  Some  alight  upon  the  end  of  a 
stick,  others  rest  upon  dead  leaves,  others  upon 
rocks  or  sand,  some  on  the  under  surface  of 
leaves,  entirely  disappearing  when  they  alight. 

[278] 


While  some  are  protected  for  motion,  others  are 
protected  for  rest.  Flickering  noiselessly  into 
the  deep,  wet  shade  in  the  network  of  vines  and 
succulent  leaves,  they  flash  out  into  the  clear 
sunlight.  The  glow  of  colors  pulsates  on  their 
shining  blue  wings,  intense  as  the  fathomless 
blaze  of  a  fragment  of  copper-saturated  drift- 
wood. Creatures  of  the  sky  they  are,  indeed, 
touched  with  the  celestial  hue.  It  was  not  with- 
out reason  that  the  Greeks  gave  the  same 
name  to  this  wondrous  insect  and  to  the  soul. 


[279] 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  JUNGLE   IN   PARADOX 

"  There  is  a  strange  beast,  the  which  for  his  great  heavi- 
nesse,  and  slownesse  in  moving,  they  call  Perico-ligero, 
or  the  little-light-dogge;  hee  hath  three  nailes  to  every  hand, 
and  mooves  both  hand  and  feete  as  it  were  by  compasse, 
and  very  heavily;  it  is  in  face  like  to  a  monkie,  and  hath  a 
shrill  crie;  it  climeth  trees,  and  eates  ants." 

FATHER  ACOSTA 

THE  uncouth  sloth !  Can  any  greater  emblem 
of  misery  be  conceived?  He  hangs  upside  down 
upon  a  branch  like  a  bundle  of  rags  on  a  nail. 
His  hair  is  like  dried  grass,  stiff,  with  a  greenish 
tinge,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  goes  the  wrong 
way.  His  long  arms  are  jointless,  swinging  to 
and  fro  like  the  end  of  a  rope.  He  can  turn 
his  head  all  about,  till  his  round,  simple  face 
meets  the  wind;  then  he  opens  his  toothless 
mouth  to  take  it  in,  giving  rise  to  a  tradition 
that  he  lives  on  air.  His  want  of  teeth  is  sup- 
plied by  long  nails  —  his  only  means  of  attack 
—  with  which  he  scrapes  out  ants.  Whether 

[280] 


,    ///    X<7' 


-• 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

he  lives  upon  cecropia  buds  and  dew,  as  Doc- 
tor Brehm  declares,  or  upon  armies  of  ants 
swarming  in  the  hollow  stems  of  the  cecropia 
tree,  it  is  certain  that  he  haunts  only  that  tree, 
which  spreads  out  broad  leaves  whose  white, 
lower  sides  reflect  light  into  the  sepulchral 
shade.  It  furnishes  him  with  more  food  than 
he  needs,  and  food  is  his  only  necessity. 

The  rain  pours,  he  listlessly  hugs  his  branch, 
a  sorry  spectacle,  emitting  from  time  to  time  a 
deep  sigh.  His  eye  is  dull,  he  knows  no  joy, 
no  sorrow.  He  needs  no  sleep,  no  relief  from  a 
life  which  is  nothing  but  respite.  The  odds 
seem  too  great  against  him  to  perform  the 
simplest  acts  of  life. 

The  climax  of  activity  is  reached  when,  like  a 
wad,  he  falls  to  the  ground,  apparently  devoid 
of  life. 

After  a  while  he  unrolls  and  progresses  with 
circumspection  upon  closed  claws  to  the  next 
cecropia  tree.  Then  he  climbs  to  the  very  top, 
where  he  begins  to  eat,  supplied  with  food  on 
the  down  journey.  Hunger  compelling,  he  un- 
bends from  a  position  of  unusual  discomfort  and 
pushes  himself  along  his  branch  upside  down. 

[281] 


PERU,   A  LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

Over-cautious  in  every  motion,  he  never  loosens 
his  rigid  hold  from  one  limb  until  securely 
clamped  to  the  next  one.  Each  movement 
causes  a  long,  sad  yowl  of  pain.  It  is  amazing 
that  so  cutting  a  sound  can  issue  from  his  soft 
mouth. 

His  weird  cry  is  a  jungle  symbol  —  mysteri- 
ous hint  of  antediluvian  days  when  the  elephan- 
tine sloth  lifted  up  a  mammoth  wail  to  be  taken 
up  by  the  glyptodon  and  the  dodo. 

In  the  desert  man  exclaims:  "  If  only  there 
were  water!  The  soil  is  fertile.  There  is  sun- 
light and  warmth  enough  to  make  a  tropical 
paradise.  If  only  there  were  water!  "  And  so, 
although  he  does  not  exactly  worship  water  as 
the  Yuncas  of  antiquity  did,  this  man  sings 
secretly  in  his  heart  a  hymn  to  the  god  of  water. 

Up  on  the  icy  highlands  man  exclaims:  "  If 
only  there  were  warmth !  The  soil  is  fertile,  there 
is  plenty  of  water,  only  warmth  is  lacking  to 
make  a  paradise.  If  only  there  were  warmth!  " 
And  he  sympathizes  with  the  Incas,  whose  god 
was  the  Sun,  and  waits  through  the  long  night- 
watches  until,  with  his  rising,  life  is  renewed. 

[282] 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

In  the  jungle,  water  brings  fertility  to  a  soil 
bathed  in  the  light  and  warmth  of  a  tropical 
sun.  It  pours  down  from  melting  snows  of  the 
mountain-tops  and  gushes  from  the  ground  to 
meet  the  rain.  Here,  where  man  might  live  with 
least  effort,  he  squats  on  the  lowest  rung  of  the 
human  ladder,  his  savage  desires  satisfied  as 
soon  as  realized.  The  sun  needs  no  propitiatory 
offerings,  water  needs  no  exhortation.  Invisible 
powers  have  conferred  all  gifts  which  his  mind 
could  imagine  or  his  heart  desire. 

But  in  the  midst  of  luxuriant  plenty,  like  the 
Indian  above  the  mine,  poverty-struck  for  want 
of  the  very  riches  he  sits  upon,  he  is  merely 
dying  out  for  lack  of  everything  with  which  he 
is  surrounded.  With  a  remedy  at  his  command 
for  every  ill,  he  hangs  about  his  neck  a  string  of 
tapirs'  claws  in  case  of  need.  As  there  is  lack 
of  nothing  to  supply  his  wants,  so  there  are  few 
wants  to  be  supplied.  A  whole  tribe  lives  on  a 
single  species  of  tree,  like  insects  depending  on 
one  fruit  or  leaf  for  subsistence,  or  the  sloth 
hanging  on  the  cecropia  tree,  which  has  senses 
sufficient  to  appreciate  sights  and  sounds  and 
smells,  but  remains  insensible.  The  jungle 

[283] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

people  seem  to  recognize  the  likeness  and  call 
one  another  "  beast  of  the  cecropia  tree." 

As  there  is  surplus  of  everything  here,  evil 
gifts  have  been  bestowed  as  well.  Poisonous 
insects  sting  for  life;  the  fierce  jaguar  and  fatal 
vampire,  whose  velvet  kisses  are  a  death-brand, 
bite  for  life;  so  do  snakes;  and  the  huge  boa 
crushes  the  bones  of  its  victim.  The  strong 
attack  the  weak,  the  cunning  inveigle  the  un- 
wary. Injurious  or  beneficent,  all  must  fight 
for  life,  joining  in  the  great  struggle.  Each 
variety  contends  with  every  other,  vegetation 
fights  to  keep  out  animals,  animals  with  birds, 
insects  with  one  another,  and  all  against  the 
water,  whose  level  silently  rises  over  its  foes. 
So  man  must  struggle  against  nature.  The 
jungle  is  his  only  teacher.  He  takes  from  it 
what  it  offers.  He  is  the  mere  imitator  of  the 
vegetable  world,  a  product  of  it  in  modified 
form.  He  sees  strife  in  air,  earth,  and  water. 
His  religion  can  conceive  only  strife  of  two 
extremes,  dying  and  living,  evil  and  good,  one 
injurious,  the  other  beneficial.  Evil  spirits 
inhabit  birds  and  beasts  and  whirlpools  of  the 
mighty  rivers.  The  dim  forest  is  filled  with 

[284] 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

powers  of  destruction.  They  lurk  in  the  black 
lizard  and  less  dangerous  ones  in  the  parro- 
quets.  Since  all  sickness  is  brought  by  evil 
spirits,  it  is  they  to  whom  prayers  are  made. 
Some  jungle  savages  believe  in  a  transformation 
into  animals  and  name  their  children  for  them. 
If  there  are  any  thoughts  of  a  future  life,  they 
are  in  jungle  terms.  After  death  these  people 
wish  to  be  turned  into  animals,  which  some- 
times happens.  "  On  the  eighth  day  a  red  deer 
jumped  from  the  grave  and  ran  away  into  the 
forest.  They  did  not  see  the  soul  enter  the  deer, 
but  they  saw  the  deer  rise  from  the  grave  " ! 
Some  worship  sun  and  moon,  an  Inca  custom. 
But  the  moon  with  its  phases  and  its  weird 
shad6ws  in  the  jungle  is  involved  in  special 
mystery.  These  savages  understand  the  jungle, 
but  facts  plain  to  us  compose  their  mystery. 

If  a  man  is  sick,  something  grows  near  by  to 
set  him  all  right  again.  They  use  nature's 
remedies  against  her  poisons,  as  they  have 
learned  from  birds  and  beasts  to  do.  They  col- 
lect various  sympathetic  medicines,  such  as 
teeth  of  poisonous  snakes,  and  carefully  fix 
them  in  leaves  and  tubes  of  rushes  —  powerful 

[285] 


PERU,  A  LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

specifics  against  headache  and  blindness.  They 
fill  flask-gourds  with  balsams,  and  collect  odor- 
ous gum  for  incense. 

War  is  their  only  object  lesson,  so  quite  natu- 
rally their  only  preeminence  is  in  the  art  of 
killing.  The  chief  cause  of  war  is  stealing  of 
women;  some  are  worth  as  much  as  a  hatchet, 
some  only  the  price  of  a  knife.  In  times  of 
fighting  the  savages  howl  through  a  giant  reed  in 
blood-curdling  discord.  They  shoot  with  parrot- 
feathered  cactus-arrows  dipped  in  famous 
poisons,  or  thrust  through  an  enemy  with  a 
macana  —  a  wooden  sword  as  sharp  as  steel  - 
or  fell  him  with  a  club  of  wood  like  iron.  Then 
they  make  drums  of  his  skin  to  serve  as  warning 
to  his  friends.  They  protect  themselves  with  a 
shield  of  creeping  plants  interwoven,  covered 
with  a  tapir  skin  and  edged  with  the  feathers 
of  parrots. 

The  only  amicable  exchanges  between  tribes 
are  the  poisons  done  up  in  reeds  into  which  they 
will  dip  the  arrows  used  each  against  the  other. 
Some  poisons,  made  by  women  and  old  men, 
can  kill  an  animal  without  injuring  his  flesh  for 
the  use  of  man.  Some  make  him  merely  wither 

[286] 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

away.  Some  do  not  take  effect  until  three  days 
after  the  wound  is  inflicted. 

The  whole  history  of  man,  beginning  with  the 
Stone  Age,  could  be  studied  among  the  wild 
tribes  of  Amazonian  Peru.  The  largest  tribe 
numbers  nearly  twenty-five  thousand,  many  but 
a  few  families,  and  one  tribe  has  now  not  a 
single  member  left.  Differing  each  from  the 
other,  they  are  similar  only  in  that  they  all 
represent  the  first  steps  of  human  development. 

A  savage  of  the  jungle  perforates  his  face  to 
insert  feathers  and  shells;  he  gouges  it  with 
sharp  flints  and  rubs  in  indelible  color.  He 
slashes  his  lips  both  within  and  without  and 
stretches  his  ear-lobes  as  far  as  the  shoulder. 
Then  he  inserts  knobs  of  chonta-psdm  wood.  He 
paints  his  face  yellow  and  suspends  a  red  bean 
from  his  nose.  Or  he  paints  his  face  in  the 
four  quarters,  blue,  yellow,  red,  and  black,  and 
dyes  his  hair  red  with  achote,  his  body  orange 
with  armatto,  staining  it  in  design  with  dark 
juices.  The  Prios  color  their  teeth;  others  leave 
their  teeth  unstained  and  wear  a  long,  yellow 
mantle.  The  Conibo  flattens  his  head,  or  that 
of  his  child,  between  boards  into  fantastic 

[287] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

shapes,  leaving  holes  through  which  the  cra- 
nium can  develop.  He  leaves  single  locks  of 
hair  on  conspicuous  promontories.  Toucans' 
feathers  are  stuck  to  them  with  wax.  On  days 
of  celebration  he  dances  in  ropes  of  iridescent 
birds  strung  through  the  bills,  his  bead  girdles 
of  barbaric  design  hung  with  humming-birds  as 
tassels.  He  knows  no  fashion  but  personal 
caprice.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  vagaries  of  the 
world  about  him,  neither  are  any  suggested  for 
his  own  decoration.  Cross- wise  over  his  shoul- 
ders he  slings  long  scarfs  of  brilliantly  colored 
birds  hung  at  the  end  of  chains  made  of  their 
little  leg-bones,  along  with  boxes  of  poison  for 
his  arrow-heads.  His  necklaces  are  of  the  teeth 
of  jaguars,  wildcats,  and  monkeys,  or  of  the 
curling  teeth  of  the  white-lipped  peccary.  From 
his  anklets  and  wristlets  of  heavy,  wooden  beans 
he  shakes  a  jungle  call,  wielding  a  feather 
scepter  in  savage  rhythm  about  the  stiff  feather 
halo  upon  his  head. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  jungle  savage 
adores  music,  if  so  it  may  be  called.  He 
imitates  the  cries  of  forest  animals.  Some  tribes 
have  war  songs;  then  they  use  a  bone  flute  or  a 

[288] 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

reed.  The  Aguarunas  have  a  violin  with  three 
strings.  This  is  the  most  intelligent  tribe,  but 
they  use  their  superior  intelligence  in  reducing 
the  heads  of  their  enemies.  One  is  often  com- 
pelled to  wonder  whether  greater  brain-devel- 
opment means  greater  usefulness. 

These  seem  to  be  the  facts:  The  head  of  an 
enemy  being  cut  off,  poisons  are  poured  into  it, 
softening  the  bones  so  that  they  can  be  drawn 
out  through  the  neck.  They  are  then  replaced 
by  red-hot  stones  to  which  the  head,  reduced 
to  one-fifth  its  original  size,  adjusts  itself  in  the 
steam  of  a  bonfire  made  of  roots  of  certain 
palms. 

A  jungle  story  runs  that  a  scientist  from  Ger- 
many tried  to  investigate  these  sinister  proc- 
esses. But  his  head,  in  miniature  form,  was 
soon  stuck  upon  a  pole.  It  could  be  recognized 
by  the  long,  reddish  beard,  which  had  retained 
its  original  proportions. 

To  qualify  as  a  warrior  a  youth  must  possess 
at  least  one  reduced  head  of  his  own  making. 
As  time  goes  on,  he  adorns  himself  with  more 
and  more  such  trophies. 

Some  similar  custom  existed  on  the  coast  in 
[289] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

ancient  times,  for  these  little  masks  have  been 
found  in  the  huacas  (grave  mounds).  The  first 
reduced  heads  were  exhibited  in  Lima  in  1862 
under  the  rare  title,  "  Heads  of  the  Incas  "! 

The  Macas  and  Jivaros  are  believed  to  have 
this  practice  as  well,  and  a  tribe  exists  near  the 
Cusicuari,  the  Rio  Negro,  and  the  Orinoco, 
reported  as  able  to  reduce  entire  bodies  in  the 
same  manner. 

Some  tribes  preserve  their  enemies'  hands, 
others  keep  their  teeth,  and  some  eat  their 
enemies  whole.  A  man  speaking  a  different 
dialect  is  eaten  like  an  animal  of  a  different 
species.  The  Amahuacas  pulverize  the  bones 
and  eat  the  ashes  in  their  food,  in  order  to 
absorb  the  physical  strength  as  well  as  the 
moral  virtues  of  the  person  gone  before.  Al- 
though they  are  never  eaten,  the  women  of 
cannibal  tribes  are  said  to  be  more  cannibalistic 
than  the  men.  Prior  to  such  feasts  they  fatten 
the  prisoners  of  war,  who  "  rather  enjoy  the 
prospect,  and  gorge  themselves  to  accommodate 
their  keepers.  They  occupy  themselves  tran- 
quilly with  their  duties  as  slaves  without  at- 
tempting to  escape." 

[290] 


THE    JUXGLE    IN    PARADOX 

Another  practice  of  the  Aguarunas  is  making 
the  tundoy,  or  tundtili,  their  jungle  signal-service. 
They  hollow  a  tree-trunk  and  make  three  holes 
in  it  with  red-hot  stones,  then  hang  it  aloft  on 
a  high  tree,  fastening  the  lower  end  securely  to 
the  ground.  Blows  upon  it  with  a  wooden 
mallet  reverberate  as  far  as  ten  miles,  and  form 
a  code,  by  their  swiftness  or  slowness  and  their 
pitch  above,  between,  or  below  the  holes.  As  a 
hundred  words  suffice  for  a  language,  so  would 
three  tones  for  a  drum  of  war.  Primitive  man 
in  the  primeval  jungle  sending  blood-curdling 
signals  to  reduce  the  heads  of  his  enemies! 
Reverberations  whose  wave-lengths  are  inter- 
cepted on  their  echoing  passage  through  the 
forest  by  the  flight  of  royal  butterflies  and 
challenged  by  the  chatter  of  antediluvian  apes! 

The  weaker  tribes  are  actually,  not  in  name 
merely,  pushed  back  into  the  woods.  Many 
traits  in  us  find  a  literal,  physical  parallel  in 
them.  We  speak  of  "  licking  the  dust;  "  in  the 
jungle  there  are  tribes  of  earth-eating  savages. 
A  civilized  man  in  the  jungle  learns  their  literal 
ways.  He  puts  gunpowder  on  the  bite  of  a 
serpent  and  cauterizes  by  igniting  it.  Having 

[291] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

no  language  adequately  to  express  the  venom- 
ous thoughts  they  may  feel,  they  use  poisoned 
arrows.  They  literally  reduce  an  enemy's  head, 
and  are  more  humane  than  we,  doing  it  after 
death ! 

The  Inje-inje  represent  the  Stone  Age,  both 
in  their  tools  and  language.  They  come  out  of 
inaccessible  hiding-places  to  perform  their  pri- 
meval rites  by  full  moon  and  are  the  least  known 
of  all  the  savage  tribes.  This  small  tribe  of  the 
Inje-inje,  whose  name  is  the  sum  of  their  lan- 
guage, need  only  a  word  to  steer  their  craft 
through  life.  As  has  been  said,  the  develop- 
ment of  language  from  the  primitive  Inje-inje 
to  the  somewhat  developed  Aguaruna  can  be 
studied  in  this  mysterious  place.  No  tribe  can 
count  further  than  ten;  most  of  them  use  only 
a  movement  of  the  fingers.  Though  there  are 
hundreds  of  "  languages,"  not  one  Amazonian 
tribe  can  write. 

In  temperate  zones  nature  is  to  be  relied 
upon.  Roots  grow  in  the  ground,  branches  and 
leaves  in  the  air,  flowers  come  forth  at  certain 
seasons,  and  fruit  follows.  Trees  give  us  shade 

[292] 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

in  which  no  fever  lurks.  Vegetables  do  not 
relieve  agony  and  want,  as  insects  and  plants 
do  not  cause  it.  No  animals  lie  in  wait  to  seize 
us,  no  snakes  to  uncurl  and  engulf  us.  Rain 
comes  in  measurable  quantities.  We  live  on  a 
tempered,  miniature  scale.  We  can  afford  to 
neglect  reckoning  with  nature,  for  we  understand 
her  laws,  and  we  direct  her  by  that  under- 
standing. 

But  what  can  be  said  of  the  jungle?  Had 
we  thought  of  gardens  as  suitably  placed  in 
tree- tops?  Or  of  an  edge  of  wood  as  sharp  as 
an  edge  of  steel?  Here  accustomed  flowers 
grow  as  shrubs,  and  shrubs  as  trees.  It  is  a 
region  where  insects  are  mistaken  for  birds, 
where  animals  imitate  a  flower  on  the  branch 
where  they  like  to  rest;  where  plants  have  fra- 
grance, and  blossoms  burst  forth  from  roots  or 
rough  bark;  where  birds  gain  protection  by 
assuming  the  dazzling  colors  of  tropical  sun- 
light, and  butterflies  by  the  warning  colors  of 
their  neighbors.  It  is  a  region  where  roots  grow 
in  the  air;  oils,  wax,  and  honey  are  secreted  by 
leaves;  where  the  death  of  anything  gives  new, 
vital  impulse  to  something  else,  and  parasites 

[293] 


PERU,   A   LAND    OF    CONTRASTS 

are  as  significant  as  their  supporters.  Curious 
region,  where  there  are  night-flying  butterflies 
and  softly-feathered  moths  to  fly  in  the  day- 
time; where  everything  is  reversed:  animals, 
whose  normal  is  upside  down,  prefer  tree-tops 
to  the  ground,  birds  of  prey  are  frightened  by 
the  painting  on  a  butterfly's  wings,  caterpillars 
sting,  spiders  kill  birds,  and  water  is  the  prin- 
cipal element  of  the  land. 

Dramatic  indeed  is  the  silent  jungle.  The 
insect  is  imprisoned  in  the  throat  of  the  orchid, 
whose  honey  it  had  been  unwarily  seeking. 
Trees  distil  venom.  Plants  have  fangs.  Per- 
fumes affect  the  brain.  Cold,  green  creepers 
blister  like  fire.  From  vampires  which  suck 
your  blood  as  you  sleep,  to  the  touch  of  a  vine 
which  paralyzes  your  entire  body,  the  jungle 
knows  all  modes  of  attack  and  furnishes  the 
cure  for  every  ill  it  has  created. 

What  can  be  taken  as  the  symbol  of  the 
jungle?  The  snake,  mysterious,  deadly,  bound 
together  in  savage  traditions  with  lightning, 
wind,  fire-streams  of  lava,  and  river- whirlpools, 
those  emblems  of  serpent  treachery?  Or  but- 
terflies, with  their  symbolism  of  life-recurrent? 

[294] 


THE    JUNGLE    IN    PARADOX 

Or  the  orchid,  emblem  of  wayward  unwhole- 
someness?  In  the  troops  of  monkeys  which 
skip,  swing,  bounce  from  tree  to  tree,  throwing 
themselves  to  be  caught  by  prehensile  tails,  is 
its  exuberance.  In  the  honey  dripping  from 
hollow  trees  and  running  off  unused,  is  typified 
its  surplus.  Iridescence  darting  from  insects  and 
from  birds,  rainbows  glinting  over  cataracts  or 
caught  by  the  equatorial  sunshine  from  misty 
hillsides,  might  be  its  symbol ;  or  the  beneficence 
of  jungle  trees  and  bushes. 

Not  one  would  be  more  or  less  typical  than 
any  other.  All  are  equally  emblematic.  If  we 
think  of  caprice,  there  is  law;  of  life,  there  is 
death;  of  beauty,  there  is  horror.  When  each 
seems  most  dominant,  then  its  opposite  is  most 
uncontrolled. 

The  seed  dies  that  the  plant  may  live;  the 
blossom  withers  that  the  fruit  may  set;  the 
worm  vanishes  that  the  butterfly  may  spread 
its  wide  wings  and  fly.  Plus  and  minus  signs 
are  never  far  apart  indeed. 


[295] 


CONCLUSION 

PERU  is  the  Land  of  the  Sun.  Its  light  and 
heat  descend  upon  the  coast  with  tropical  fury, 
reducing  the  desert  to  a  shimmering  vibration 
which  breathes  back  scorching  odors  toward 
the  sun.  The  sun  alone  makes  life  possible  upon 
the  arctic  heights  where,  in  Inca  days,  it  was 
worshipped  in  name  as  well  as  in  fact.  Yet  be- 
yond the  mountain-barrier  the  same  constant 
sun  has  no  longer  undisputed  sway.  The  jungle 
is  "  almost  uninhabitable  through  too  great 
abundance  of  waters."  Peru  is  the  Land  of 
Water,  without  which  the  desert  is  barren, 
because  of  which  the  jungle  is  luxuriant. 

But  the  sun,  the  god  of  Peru,  controls  the 
water.  It  can  combine  with  its  opposing  ele- 
ment. It  is  able  to  transfigure  even  the  rain, 
which,  like  human  hopes,  becomes  iridescent 
because  the  sun  shines.  The  rainbow  is  a  will- 
ing Ariel,  the  servant  of  each,  retreating  from 

[296] 


CONCLUSION 

the  sun  only  as  far  as  the  rain  allows  and  il- 
lumining the  rain  only  as  far  as  the  sun  permits. 

The  rainbow  is  visible  nature's  alphabet.  In 
terms  of  it  are  spelled  sky  and  sea,  trees,  birds, 
and  flowers.  It  shoots  the  desert-mists  and 
twinkles  along  the  streams  which  intersect  it. 
It  fearlessly  embraces  the  austere  crags  of  the 
mountain-peaks  and  shimmers  in  the  craters  of 
volcanoes. 

Entire  it  flings  itself  from  the  heart  of  a 
shower,  follows  the  waves  of  the  sea  along,  or 
glints  on  a  butterfly's  wings  or  from  a  humming- 
bird's throat. 

It  reveals  the  elements  of  the  stars,  it  lists  the 
ingredients  of  the  sun,  and  sets  down  upon  its 
ephemeral  tablet  the  red-hot  vapors  rising  from 
the  desert.  Even  the  breath  of  the  volcano 
has  a  place  in  the  rainbow  alphabet. 

It  is  hard  to  avoid  so  fundamental  a  thing. 
Close  your  eyes  in  the  sunlight,  and  its  whole 
scale  is  thrown  in  glistening  repetition  across 
your  own  eyelashes. 

Even  the  ultra- violet  —  the  unknown,  the 
unperceived  —  must  be  discussed  in  rainbow 
terms,  the  only  letters  the  eye's  alphabet  knows. 

[297] 


PERU,   A   LAND   OF   CONTRASTS 

The  Incas  chose  it  for  an  empire's  emblem 
and  dedicated  to  it  a  temple  close  to  that  of  the 
Sun. 

It  symbolized  to  the  Spaniards  the  astound- 
ing country  which  had  fallen  as  by  miracle  into 
their  grasp,  the  land  of  mystery,  whose  romantic 
wealth  and  dazzling  promises  encircled  them  as 
with  the  rainbow  arch,  and,  like  it,  receded  as 
they  advanced. 

Peru  still  keeps  the  rainbow  symbol.  Many- 
colored  mysteries  hover  about  the  man  who 
leans  over  its  glittering  jewel-casket.  And 
wherever  the  ends  of  its  bright  bow  touch  the 
desert,  flit  over  the  mountain-tops,  or  sweep 
across  the  jungle,  nature's  unexplored  secrets 
lie  concealed. 

There  is,  however,  a  difference.  For  the 
rainbow-arch  which  mingles  sunlight  and  water 
is  only  an  evanescent  promise,  vanishing  almost 
as  quickly  as  it  can  flash  a  new  gleam  of  hope 
into  a  human  heart.  But  Peru,  with  its  chan- 
ging beauties  and  its  mysterious  allurements,  is 
a  fact.  The  pot  of  gold  which  it  promises  is 
real. 

THE   END 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

OF  all  the  general  works  on  Peru  none  has  greater  weight 
than  Peru;  Beobachtungen  und  Studien  (1893)  by  E.  W. 
Middendorf.  He  has  exploited  the  country  in  a  large,  three- 
volume  work  with  such  German  thoroughness  that  hardly 
a  fact  has  been  left  for  subsequent  writers  to  disclose.  I 
have  referred  to  it  constantly.  Other  shorter,  general  stud- 
ies of  the  country  are  Von  Tschudi's  Reisen  durch  Suda- 
merika,  giving  much  attention  to  folk-lore,  and  Twenty 
Years'  Residence  in  South  America  (1825)  by  W.  B.  Steven- 
son, secretary  to  Lord  Cochrane.  He  traveled  far  and  wide 
in  Peru  and  made  observations  in  regard  to  remote  details. 
Typical  of  descriptive  writings  is  Two  Years  in  Peru  (1876) 
by  T.  J.  Hutchinson.  Various  general  works  by  Bernard 
Moses  and  his  publications  in  the  University  of  California 
Chronicle  are  valuable,  notably  his  work  on  the  produce  of 
the  mines. 

Reliable  observations  on  ruins  are  those  made  by  E.  G. 
Squier  in  his  Peru:  Travel  and  Exploration  in  the  Land  of 
the  Incas,  by  Mariano  Rivero  y  Juan  de  Tschudi  hi  Anti- 
guedades  Peruanas,  and  by  Charles  Wiener  in  Perou  et  Bolivie. 
Studies  of  ruins  in  particular  localities  have  been  made  by 
many  archaeologists;  for  example,  on  Tiahuanacu,  L.  An- 
grand,  in  Antiquites  Americaines,  though  his  book  is  now  out 
of  date,  Adolph  F.  Bandelier  in  his  Islands  of  Titicaca 
and  Koati,  Max  Uhle,  with  whom  I  visited  some  of  the 
ruins,  on  Tiahuanacu  and  Pachacamac,  and  Hiram  Bing- 
ham  in  recent  explorations. 

[299] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sir  Clements  Markham  has  spent  more  than  fifty  years 
studying  every  stage  of  Peru's  history  from  the  time  when 
it  was  a  land  of  myth  to  the  Chilian  war.  His  researches  as 
well  as  his  careful  translations  have  been  published  in  a 
series  of  volumes.  Authorities  on  various  periods  of  the 
history  are  legion.  Relating  to  pre-Inca  times,  in  which 
studies  of  myths  and  theories  of  ruins  are  intermingled, 
original  sources  are  the  Memorias  Historiales  of  Montesinos, 
first  published  in  French  in  1840,  and  Cieza  de  Leon,  the 
soldier,  whose  Cronica  del  Peril  (1553)  is  authority  on  the 
Incas.  Some  modern  scientists  who  have  written  about  the 
pre-Inca  period  are  Ernest  Desjardins  in  his  Perou  avant  la 
Conquete  Espagnole,  Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  Meyen's  Uber 
die  Ureinwohner  wn  Peru,  and  Brinton  in  his  Myths  of  the 
New  World  and  other  works.  Many  persons  are  studying 
the  legends,  as,  for  instance,  Professor  Liborio  Zerda  of  the 
University  at  Bogota.  The  Miscelaneas  Australes  of  Miguel 
Cavello  Balboa,  a  soldier,  is  an  original  source  for  knowledge 
of  the  remote  Chimus.  Das  Reich  der  Chimus  by  Otto  von 
Buchwald,  and  especially  Das  Muchik  oder  die  Chimu  Sprache 
by  Doctor  Middendorf ,  who  quotes  largely  from  Calancha 
and  Carrera,  are  modern  authorities. 

In  regard  to  the  Incas:  As  a  background  there  are  the 
old,  picturesque  chronicles  which  read  like  romances,  but 
on  which  reposes  most  of  the  knowledge  that  modern 
authorities  have  corroborated  in  regard  to  the  earlier  in- 
habitants of  Peru.  These  contemporary  accounts  have  to 
be  carefully  studied  in  order  to  distinguish  fact  from  fiction. 
Next  to  the  Cronica  of  Cieza  de  Leon  are  the  Comeniarios 
Reales  of  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  in  whose  own  veins  the  tur- 
bulent blood  of  the  Conquistador  mingled  with  the  blood 
of  the  Sun.  During  his  lifetime  the  imperial  race  of  his 
mother  was  exterminated  by  the  fierce  adventurers  becoming 

[300] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

grandees,  of  whom  his  father  was  one.  His  book  has  the 
value  of  personal  reminiscence.  His  enthusiasm  adds  a 
certain  glamor;  but  even  if  his  unique  work  has  been  spurned 
as  an  Utopian  romance,  it  has  been  reluctantly  accredited 
as  the  foundation  of  facts  set  forth  by  its  critics.  De  las 
Antiguas  Genles  del  Peru  by  Bartolome  de  las  Casas,  works  by 
Diego  Fernandez,  Betanzos,  Oviedo,  Sarmiento,  Cobo,  On- 
degardo,  Molina's  Fables  and  Rites  of  the  Incas,  and  the  great 
Miscelaneas  of  Balboa  must  be  consulted.  Many  of  them 
have  been  translated  by  Sir  Clements  Markham  and  pub- 
lished by  the  Hakluyt  Society  of  London. 

It  is  bewildering  to  try  to  single  out  one  or  two  modern 
works  upon  the  Incas,  for  their  name  is  legion.  The  definitive 
authority  in  English  is  of  course  Sir  Clements  Markham, 
whose  Incas  of  Peru  (1910)  has  followed  numberless  more 
detailed  works  of  his  own  upon  the  subject. 

Der  Belus  oder  Sonnendienst  auf  den  Anden  oder  Kelten  in 
America  by  Frenzel,  presents  one  field  of  theory  which  ob- 
servations on  the  remains  of  the  Incas'  walls  suggest.  The 
temptation  to  interpret  by  means  of  analogies  to  other  remote 
civilizations  is  withstood  with  difficulty.  From  John  Ran- 
king and  his  Historical  Researches  on  the  Conquest  of  Peru  by 
the  Mongols,  to  Ignatius  Donnelly  and  his  evidence  in  favor 
of  its  conquest  by  the  Egyptians  via  Atlantis,  Peru  has 
given  an  unlimited  field  for  speculation.  Lord  Bacon  be- 
lieved, by  the  way,  that  Peru  was  a  proud  kingdom  in  the 
time  of  Atlantis.  A  striking  example  of  immense  erudition 
expended  on  a  futile,  though  technically  well-supported, 
fancy,  is  Rudolph  Falb's  Das  Land  der  Inca.  Painstaking 
scholars  are  tracing  out  similarities  between  the  Peruvian  lan- 
guage and  the  Semitic  and  Phoenician  tongues  —  "  astound- 
ing affinities,"  of  which  common  stems  are  purest  in  Quichua, 
so  that  the  human  race  seems  to  have  emanated  from  the 

[301] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

tops  of  the  Andes;  similarities,  too,  between  Peruvians  and 
the  long-bearded  Druids  whose  rites  were  chiefly  sun-worship; 
they  also  kept  memoranda  with  strings  tied  in  different 
knots,  like  the  quipus,  and  built  vast  structures  of  stone 
without  tools.  There  are  analogies  between  Peruvians  and 
Hindus,  who  worshipped  the  Sun  as  Rama  and  called  their 
first  legislator  Vaivasaonta,  the  Son  of  the  Sun,  and  between 
Peru  and  Farther  India.  The  Seccos  have  been  called  the 
Malays  of  Bolivia.  There  are  analogies  between  Peruvians 
and  Chinese,  whose  royal  color  was  also  yellow,  whose  pe- 
culiar god  from  earliest  times  was  the  Sun,  who  used  quipus, 
who  had  terrace-cultivation  and  irrigation-systems  like  those 
of  the  Incas,  who  used  foot-messengers  for  royal  emissaries, 
and  brought  all  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  realm  for  the 
beautifying  of  royal  temples.  "  The  buildings,  religious  in- 
stitutions, division  of  time,  and  mystic  notions,"  which 
"  seem  in  Asia  to  indicate  the  very  dawn  of  civilization," 
are  found  here  upon  the  Andes.  Whether  there  was  inter- 
communication, or  whether  such  facts  merely  suggest  the 
instinctive  discovery  of  all  peoples,  their  origin  is  wrapped 
only  in  mystery  —  a  veil  whose  lightest  corner  is  only  just 
lifting. 

But  to  continue  with  the  succeeding  periods  of  history. 
Spanish  vice-regal  days  and  the  civil  wars  of  the  conquerors, 
the  fleets  of  treasure,  the  Inquisition,  have  been  the  subject 
of  romantic  histories.  Besides  Prescott's  well-loved  Con- 
quest of  Peru,  William  Robertson's  History  of  America,  pub- 
lished more  than  a  century  ago,  gives  a  concise,  general  sur- 
vey since  the  Conquest.  Drake's  Worlde  Encompassed  and 
Southey's  account  of  Drake's  voyage  in  his  English  Seamen, 
as  well  as  Froude's,  together  with  various  Hakluyt  publica- 
tions, are  authorities  for  freebooter  days.  Also  there  are 
such  cold  authorities  as  the  Calendars  of  State  Papers  of 

[302] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

many  countries,  E.  Armstrong's  The  Emperor  Charles  V, 
and  for  the  Inquisition,  H.  C.  Lea,  Vicuna  Mackenna,  and 
Ricardo  Palma.  The  reports  to  the  Royal  Council  of  the 
Indies  of  the  sixteenth  century  enter  into  minute  details. 
Father  Acosta  was  the  historian  of  the  third  council.  His 
Historic  Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias,  first  published  in 
1590,  is  an  indispensable  book,  although  it  has  borne  the 
reproach  of  being  superficial. 

The  French  Academicians  came  to  Quito  in  1735  to 
measure  an  arc  of  meridian,  an  enterprise  which  d'Alembert 
considered  the  greatest  ever  attempted  by  science.  One  of 
these  scientists,  La  Condamine,  made  extensive  studies  in 
quinine,  named  cinchona  for  the  Countess  of  Chincho'n, 
vice-queen,  and  one  of  the  first  to  feel  its  beneficent  power. 
His  Voyage  fait  dans  VInterieur  de  VAmerique  Meridionale 
(1745),  and  the  Voyage  Historique  de  VAmerique  Meridicnale 
by  Antonio  y  Jorje  Juan  de  Ulloa  (Spanish  edition  in  1748, 
French  hi  1752),  who  accompanied  the  French  expedition, 
both  aim  at  truthfulness.  Another  delightful  as  well  as 
dependable  work  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  the  Voyage 
dans  la  Mer  du  Sud  by  Amedee  Francois  Frezier  (1716). 
In  particular  must  be  mentioned  Lozano's  Histoire  des 
Tremblements  de  Terre  arrives  d,  Lima.  Hales  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London  has  added  to  this  French  edition  of  1752 
accounts  of  Lima  in  his  day,  trustworthy  as  his  observations 
on  the  geology  and  meteorology  of  the  coast. 

Such  facts  as  I  have  stated  in  regard  to  the  natural  history 
of  the  coast  are  vouched  for  by  Ferdinand  von  Hochstetter, 
Die  Erdbebenfluth  im  Pazifischen  Ocean,  Friedrich  Goll,  Die 
Erdbeben  Chiles,  a  remote  work  on  El  Desierto  de  Alacama, 
Humboldt's  Vues  des  Corditteres,  Darwin's  Journal  of  Re- 
searches, and  the  Voyage  of  the  Beagle,  the  three  latter  de- 
scribing the  natural  history  of  the  mountains  as  well.  One 

[303] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

or  two  of  Sir  Martin  Conway's  books,  Alfons  Stiibel,  Die 
Vulkanberge  von  Ecuador,  and  Neveu-Lemaire,  Les  Lacs  des 
Hauls  Plateaux  de  I'Amerique  du  Sud,  may  also  be  added. 
In  describing  the  animals  of  Peru  I  have  as  authority  Brehm's 
Thierleben. 

Ricardo  Palma's  Revista  de  Lima  and  Carlos  Romero's 
Revista  Historica  de  Lima,  Manuel  A.  Fuentes'  Estadistica 
General  de  Lima,  published  in  Paris  in  English  as  Lima  in 
1866,  give  interesting  information  in  regard  to  that  city. 

When  it  comes  to  the  Amazonian  wonderland  no  exagger- 
ation could  compete  with  fact.  But  I  have  not  withstood  the 
temptation  wholly  on  that  account!  There  is  Louis  Agassiz' 
A  Journey  in  Brazil,  H.  W.  Bates'  A  Naturalist  on  the  River 
Amazon,  two  books  by  Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  Tropical 
Nature  and  Life  on  the  Amazon,  Raimondi's  El  Departe- 
mento  de  Loreto  as  well  as  his  El  Peru,  Robert  Southey's 
History  of  Brazil,  and  the  publications  of  the  Sociedad  Geo- 
grdfica  de  Lima. 

I  am  happy  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  Mr. 
Wilberforce  Eames  of  the  New  York  Public  Library  for 
access  to  its  Americana;  to  Dr.  Martin  and  to  Dr.  Steven- 
son of  the  Hispanic  Society  of  America;  to  Mr.  C.  L.  Ches- 
ter for  many  of  my  pictures;  to  Dr.  F.  S.  Archenhold, 
Director  of  the  Treptow  Sternwarte  at  Berlin  for  the  free- 
dom of  his  library,  where  I  found  most  of  the  German 
works  consulted,  and  to  Don  Ricardo  Palma,  former  Libra- 
rian of  the  Biblioteca  Nacional  de  Lima,  for  permission  to 
inspect  many  of  his  rare  books  and  manuscripts. 


[304] 


INDEX 


Achachibas  (piles  of  stones),  222. 

Acllahuasi   (convent  of    Sun-Vir- 
gins), 207. 

Acosta,  48,  80,  174,  179,  226,  229, 
242,  280,  303. 

Agassiz,  L.,  5,  304. 

Aguarunas,  289,  291,  292. 

Alameda  (Lima),   106,   107;    (La 
Paz),  163. 

Almagro,  Diego  de,  73,  89. 

Alpacas,  54,  157,  226. 
See  llamas,  huanacus,  vicunas. 

Amahuacas,  290. 

Amautas  (wise  men), 
See  Incas. 

Amazon,  5,  6,  10,  123,  124,  141, 

233,  236,  237,  245-248,  304. 
See  jungle. 

Amaeons,  236-237. 

Amiel,  61. 

Andalusia,  New,  84. 

Andes,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  15,  30,  36, 
43,  S3,  59,  60,  123,  134,  I7S, 
247,  248,  301,  302;  animals 
of,  155-158;  birds  of,  168; 
dangers  of,  147-149;  de- 
scription of,  143-148;  lakes 
of,  166-167;  light  in,  149- 
150;  mines  of,  152-154; 
storm  in,  150-151;  valleys 
of,  165,  240-246,  265. 
See  condor,  cordillera,  Incas, 
Indians,  mines,  puna,  valleys. 


Andenes  (terraces),  183. 
Antarctic, 

See  ocean,  Pacific. 
Ant-eater,  56,  263,  272. 
Antis,  197. 
Aqueducts, 

See  irrigation. 
Argentina,  121. 
Arianza,  Juan  de,  92. 
Arica,  78. 
Armada,  91. 
Armadillo,  263,  272. 
Armatambo,  104. 
Atahualpa,  67, 69-71,  77, 136, 188, 

215- 
Atlantic, 

See  ocean. 
A  ulo  de  fe, 

See  Inquisition. 
Aztlan,  113. 

Badeor,  Federico,  79. 
Balboa,  40,  300,  301. 
Balsa  (boat  of  reeds),  41,  48,  168, 

234- 

Bandelier,  A.  F.,  234,  299. 
Bats,  47,  243,  273. 
Betanzos,  176. 
Bezoar  stone,  225. 
Bingham,  Hiram,  161,  299. 
Bolivia,  265. 

See  Tiahuanacu. 
Borax,  32. 


[305] 


INDEX 


Bougainvillea,  35,  57,  59,  125. 
Boussingault,  251. 
Brazil,  229,  304. 
Brehm,  264,  281,  304. 
Bridges,  swinging,  123,  165,  185. 
Brittany,  81,  164,  265. 
Buccaneers,  81,  236. 
See  El  Dorado,  freebooters,  pi- 
rates. 

Buenos  Aires,  85. 
Bull-fights,  7,  16,  87,  139. 
Butterflies,  59,  65,  121,  125,  261, 
273-279. 

Cacafuego,  82. 

Cacique  (chieftain),  196,  199,  235. 
Cajamarca,  69,  71,  186. 
Cajamarquilla,  104. 
Calancha,  50,  300. 

See  Chimus. 

Callao,  15,  85,  86,  100,  101. 
Camarones  (crayfish),  121. 
Candia,  Pedro  de,  68. 
Cantut    (flower    of    Incas),    172, 

200. 

Caras,  197. 

Carbunculo     (mythical     animal), 

273- 

Carnac,  164. 
Carranza,  Angela,  93. 
Carvajal,  74. 
Casma,  27. 
Cavillaca,  44. 
Cazuela  (soup),  24,  109. 
Cecropia,  281,  283. 
Cerro  de  Pasco,  153. 
Chancas,  199. 
Chanchan, 
See  Chimus. 


Chachapoyas,  198. 
Chasca, 

See  Dawn. 
Chasqui  (runners),  184. 

See  Sun,  messengers  of  the. 
Cheireoque  (bird),  129. 
Chibchas,  197. 
Chicka   (beverage),   45,   69,    171, 

l8o,  207,  210,  212,  222. 

Chile,  54,  89,  121,  129,  197. 

Chimus,  47-52,  186,  300. 

Chincha  Islands, 
See  guano. 

Chinchaycocha,  Lake  of,  166. 

Chinchilla,  4,  24,  155. 

Chirimoya  (fruit),  53,  57. 

Chorillos,  103. 

Chulpas  (towers  of  the  dead),  184. 

Churches,  21,  78,  87-88,  97,  99, 

100,  in,  112,  138,  215. 
See  convents,  Dominicus,  Fran- 
ciscans, Indians,  Inquisition, 
Jesuits,   Lima,    Santa   Rosa, 
Spain. 

Cinchona  (quinine),  6,  251,  303. 

Ciruelas  (fruit),  23,  62. 

Civilizations,  ancient, 
See  Indian  races. 

Coal,  7,  168. 

Coast,  aborigines  of,  37;  birds  of, 
see  ocean;  characteristics  of, 
3,  4,  16-18;  climate  of,  29- 
30;  geology  of,  15,  20,  40, 
see  earthquake;  inhabitants 
of,  15-16;  towns  of,  21-24. 
See  desert. 

Coati,  172. 

Coca   (cocaine),   6,  93,  181,  207, 
212,  224. 

[306] 


INDEX 


Columbus,  76,  233. 

Con,  30,  175,  177,  178. 

Condamine,  236,  303. 

Condor,  6,  140,  144,  157-138,  160, 

199,  210. 
Condorcanqui, 

See  Tupac  Amaru. 
Coniapuyara,  236. 
Conibos,  287. 
Conquerors, 

See  Spaniards. 
Conquest,  Spanish,   bibliography 

of,  302-303. 
Convents,  dosed,  114-119;  open, 

113-114,  see  Franciscans;  of 

Sun- Virgins,  see  Sun,  Virgins 

of  the. 
Cordillera,  4,  72,  77,  103,  131,  227, 

303- 

See  Andes. 

Corcquenque  (bird).  100. 
Coricancha, 

See  Sun,  temples  of  the. 
Cotton,  6,  32,  35,  43,  52. 
Coya  (wife  of  Inca),  204,  207. 
Coyaraymi  (marriage-day),  207. 
Cuculis  (desert  doves),  122. 
Cueca  (dance),  58. 
Cuntisuyu,  186. 
Curacas  (governors),  211,  212. 
Cuskma  (garment),  237. 
Cusicuari,  290. 

Cuzco,  67,  166,  174,  178,  179,  182, 
184,  196,  197,  199.  200.  2°4, 

206,    210,   217,   220,   223. 

Darwin,  169,  254,  303. 
Dawn  (Chasca),  203,  205;    lodg- 
ings of  the,  178. 


Desert,  3,  4>  5,  25-26;  aborigines 
of,  37;  climate  of,  29-30, 
see  garuas;  emptiness  of,  30; 
legends  of,  36;  lifelessness  of, 
30-31;  phenomena  of,  26-29; 
character  of,  32;  rivers  of,  see 
rivers;  ruins  of,  35;  showers 
in,  31;  valleys  of,  see  valleys; 
vultures  of,  see  gaUinazos. 

Desaguadero,  169. 

Dominicus  (Santo  Domingo),  88, 
116,  117,  223. 

Drake,  Francis,  82,  302. 

Diirer,  Albrecht,  77. 

Earthquake,  4,  15,  27-29,  41,  44, 

55,  63,  67,  99-102. 
Ecuador,  71,  197. 
El  Dorado,  85,  234-236. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  82. 
Elmo,  fire  of  Saint,  167. 
Enciza,  270. 
Encomienda  (tax),  91. 
EscandaJosa  (bush),  62. 
Eten.  49. 

Falb,  Rudolf,  163,  301. 

Fierro,  Pancho,  130. 

Fish- worship,  40,  41,  44,  51. 

See  Chimus. 
Fishes'  eyes,  17. 
Franciscans,    21,    105,    107-109, 

139,  153- 

Freebooters,  20,  82. 
See  El  Dorado,  buccaneers,  pi- 
rates. 

GaUinasos  (vultures),  21,  32,  43. 
Garuas  (mists),  30,  105. 
See  desert,  climate  of  the. 


[307] 


INDEX 


Gold  and  silver,  9,  27,  51,  56,  64- 
66,  68,  71,  76-83,  84,  90,  152- 
155,  171,  182,  193,  199,  204- 
207. 

See     Incas,     Spaniards,     Sun, 
Treasure. 

Golden  Hynde,  81,  82. 

Granaditta  (fruit  of  passion- 
flower), 240. 

Guano,  19-20,  27,  56,  76. 

Guavas,    24,     57,    61,    62,    125, 

133- 

Quay  abas  (fruit),  23. 
Guayaquil,  85. 
Guatavita,  234,  235. 
Guenelette,  9,  244. 


Hassel,  Georg  von,  233. 
Heads,  reduced,  289-290. 
Heredia,  Jose-Maria  de,  9. 
Huaca  cachu  (plant  of  the  grave), 

222. 

Huacas  (grave  mounds),  290. 
Huacho,  salt  lakes  of,  32. 
Hi4acos   (objects   in    huacas),  73, 

126-129. 
Huadca,  104. 
Hualpa,  153. 

Huanacus  (wild  llama),  157. 
Huancayo,  153. 
Huayna  Ccapac,  66,  166,  209. 

See  Incas. 

Huerequeque  (bird),  22. 
Huguenot  hermit,  104. 
Huira  Capcha,  153. 
Humboldt,  A.  von,  81,  161,  169, 

184,  185,  235,  303. 
Humming-birds,  57,  65,  132,  146, 

160,  172,  243,  263-267,  270. 

[308] 


Iguana,  35,  240. 

Incas,  aeroplane  named  for,  139; 
amautas,  163,  215;  analogies 
to  other  races,  301-302;  arms 
of,  205;  books  about,  300- 
301;  bridges  of,  185;  bound- 
aries of,  20;  campaigns  of,  40, 
49,  195-197;  at  Chanchan, 
47.49)5!;  chinchillas  valued 
by,  155;  clothes  of,  189,  207; 
coca,  divine  plant  of,  181; 
conquest  of,  foretold,  66-67; 
contemporaries  of,  37;  court 
of,  199;  description  of,  70, 
160;  in  desert,  39,  47;  dis- 
tinctive marks  of,  189-191; 
divinity  of,  188-189;  dramas 
of,  136;  empire  of,  197-199; 
festivals  of,  208,  210-213; 
flute  of,  135;  gold  of,  7,  64-65, 
76;  human  sacrifices  of,  211; 
irrigation  works  of,  186;  in 
jungle,  231-232,  285;  last  cf, 
214-221;  laws  of,  19,  193- 
194;  llamas  worshipped  by, 
157;  male  title,  205;  mer- 
cury, a  mystery  to,  152; 
messengers  of  the,  192; 
myths  of,  175-179;  Nature, 
teacher  of,  183;  origin  of, 
178-179;  Pachacamac  spared 
by,  41,  42;  attitude  toward 
Pachacamac,  177;  pageants 
of,  163;  passion-flower  car- 
ried by,  58;  pleasure  gardens 
of,  165;  pleasure  houses  of, 
185;  predecessors  of,  160- 
162;  rainbow  emblem  of, 
206,  298;  roads  of,  36,  40, 


INDEX 


184-185;  subjects  of,  66, 
191-193;  Sun,  god  of,  34, 
42,  176,  282;  thunderbolt  in 
palace  of,  67;  Titicaca,  Is- 
land of,  170-173;  tribute  to, 
192-195;  vicuna  fur  worn  by, 
24,  156;  worshipped  by  In- 
dians, 174. 

See  Atahualpa,  Huayna  Cca- 
pac,  Manco  Ccapac,  Sayri 
Tupac,  Tupac  Amaru,  Uira- 
cocha,  Yupanqui,  also  gold 
and  silver,  and  Sun. 

Inca  Rocca,  231. 

Indians,  characteristics  of,  221- 
224;  called  Children  of  Is- 
rael, 93;  Christianity  of,  223- 
224;  near  Eten,  49;  saying 
about  God  of,  28;  horses 
terrify,  72;  lift  chain  of 
Huayna  Ccapac,  166;  Incas' 
attitude  toward,  195;  In- 
cas' buildings  benefit,  187; 
punishment  of,  192;  death  of 
tncas  witnessed  by,  217-219; 
Incas  worshipped  by,  174; 
of  jungle,  283-292;  language 
of,  see  Quichua;  legends  of, 
36,  174-181,  244;  the  llama, 
an  interpretation  of,  225- 
227;  melancholy  of,  135; 
mines  of,  153-154;  mothers 
of,  112;  music  of,  see  yara- 
vis;  poverty  of,  8;  prehistoric 
races  of,  3,  17,  19,  32,  36,  38, 

42>  52>  55)  I22>  X4^>  I^°)  I^I» 
187;  reed  vessels  of,  see  balsa; 
revolts  of,  215-216,  220-221; 
Sachsahuaman  built  by,  201; 


attitude  toward  Spaniards, 
72,  214;  Spaniards  copy, 
83;  first  encounters  with 
Spaniards,  68-71;  Spaniards' 
treatment  of,  89-91;  cure 
surumpe,  149;  treasure  con- 
cealed by,  80;  vicufia  hunts 
of,  156;  warriors,  86;  yaravis, 
134- 

See  Aguarunas,  Chancas,  Cha- 
chapoyas,  Chimus,  Incas, 
Inje-injes,  Muratos,  Nahu- 
medes,  Yuncas. 

Indies,  73,  77,  79,  80,  81. 

Inje-injes,  239,  292. 

Inquisition,  91-09,  104,  302,  303. 

Inti  (Sun),  42,  203. 
See  Sun. 

Inti-cancha     (Cori-cancha),     66, 

204,  206. 
See  Sun,  temples  of  the. 

Iquitos,  123,  125. 

Irrigation,  ancient  systems  of,  50, 

52,  55^  89.  «>*•  I03,  104,  i6ii 
183,  186-187,  192,  193. 
Isles,  of  Pearls,  89;   of  Solomon, 

8S- 
Islay,  Pampa  of,  32. 

Jaguars,  68,  129,  104,  198,  199, 
210,  234,  235,  243,  244-245. 
284. 

Jalca  (table-land),  3. 
See  puna. 

Jauja,  71. 

Jesuits,  72,  in,  237. 
See  San  Pedro,  churches. 

Jivaros,  290. 

Juan  Fernandez,  Islands  of,  121. 


[309] 


INDEX 


Jungle,  a  land  of  adventure,  231- 
239;  Amazon  basin,  246-249; 
animals  of,  271-273,  280-282; 
appearance  of,  from  above, 
239;  approach  to,  from  An- 
des, 240-246;  birds  of,  241; 
butterflies  of,  273-279;  char- 
acteristics of,  3-6,  10;  color 
of,  261;  Columbus  in,  233- 
234;  present  conditions  in, 
238;  gloom  of,  259;  heat  in, 
259;  humming-birds  of,  263- 
267;  Incas  defied  by,  197; 
Incas  in,  231-232;  insects  of, 
262,  270-271;  legends  of, 
244-246;  lianas  of,  251; 
rhythmic  life  of,  258;  loam 
from,  183;  Jesuits  in,  237- 
238;  orchids  of,  253-255; 
paradoxes  of,  292-295;  para- 
sites of,  253;  largest  part  of 
Peru,  3;  perfume  of,  269- 
270;  rain  in,  29,  248-249; 
savages  of  the,  10,  18,  283- 
292;  no  seasons  in,  258-259; 
silence  of  day  in,  268;  night 
sounds  in,  270-271;  Span- 
iards in,  234-236;  trees  of, 
57,  250-251;  vegetation  in, 
250-259;  warfare  of  vege- 
tation in,  255-257. 

La  Paz,  163. 

Lea,  H.  C.,  95,  303. 

See  Inquisition. 

Leon,  Cieza  de,  65,  185,  300. 

Lima,  84-140;  Alameda,  107; 
bells,  city  of,  110-113;  bishop 
of,  93;  books  about,  304; 


churches  of,  87-88;  climate 
of,  104-105;  City  of  Kings, 
3,  86,  90,  99,  214;  collec- 
tions in,  125-126;  composer 
of  national  opera  in,  133-138; 
contrasts  in,  138-140;  con- 
vents of,  107-109,  113-120; 
destruction  of,  in  1746,  99- 
102;  dinner  party  in,  121- 
125;  galleons  of,  77;  Geo- 
graphical Society  of,  237,  304; 
reduced  heads  exhibited  in, 
290;  Incas  in,  215;  Inquisi- 
tion in,  91-09;  lady  of  seven- 
teenth century  in,  106-107; 
national  librarian  in,  129- 
132;  market  of,  139;  milk- 
women  of,  140;  Paseo  Col6n, 
140;  Spanish  splendor  of,  7, 
84,  85,  86,  see  gold  and  silver; 
surroundings  of,  103-105;  uni- 
versity in,  140. 
See  Spaniards. 

Lisle,  Lord,  79. 

Llamas,  prehistoric  carvings  of, 
55;  drove  of,  58;  Christian 
sacrifice  of,  223;  Incas'  sac- 
rifice of,  207,  21 1 ;  Incas' 
talismans,  222;  Incas'  use  of, 
160;  Incas'  worship  of,  157; 
an  interpretation  of  Indians, 
224-227;  in  Lima,  140;  ran- 
som of  Atahualpa,  71. 
See  vicunas. 

Llautu    (fringe    of    Inca),     190, 

207. 
See  Incas,  clothes  of. 

Lopez,  Francisco,  65. 

Loti,  Pierre,  i. 


[310] 


INDEX 


Loveday,  G.,  79. 
Lurin,  43,  47. 

Macas,  290. 
Mamacunas, 

See  Sun,  Virgins  of  the. 
Mama  Ocllo,  179. 
Mamayacu    (mother   of    waters), 

245,  250-261. 
Madera,  233. 
Madre  de  Dfos,  231. 
Maguey  (plant),  242-243. 
Manco  Ccapac,  174,  176,  178,  179, 
189,  233. 

See  Incas,  Sun. 
Manoa,  236. 

Manias  (head-shawls),  22,  108. 
Markham,  Sir  Clements,  300,  301. 
Marmontel,  9. 
Marmoset,  249. 
Mastodon,  38,  169,  263. 
Maui,  37. 

Medanos  (sand-dunes),  33-35. 
Megalithic  ruins, 

See  Tiahuanacu,  Sachsahuaman. 
Mercury,  144,  152. 
Mexico,  128,  154. 
Middendorf,  96,  236,  209,  300. 
Mines,  5,  6,  7,  10,  27,  39,  90,  91, 

152-155- 

See  gold  and  silver. 
Mirage,  26,  57,  147. 
Mishagua,  232. 
Mita  (tax),  91. 
Mochica,  49. 

See  Chimus. 

Monkeys,  9,  45,  242,  288. 
Monuments, 

See  ruins. 


Moon,  (Si),  (Quilla),  34,  47,  49, 

50,  67,  72,  172,  203-205,  212. 

Morgado,  Alonzo,  79, 
Mother  of  Waters, 

See  mamayacu. 
Mountains, 

See  Andes. 
Mountain-sickness, 

See  soroche. 

Mummies,  42,  44-46,  125,  204. 
Muratos,  237. 
Mutayces,  233. 
Myths,  36,  174-181. 

Nahumedes,  237. 

Negro,  Rio,  200. 

Nitrate,  27,  32,  54,  56,  61,  62,  77. 

Ocean,  Atlantic,  29, 168,  238,  248. 
Pacific,  15,  44,  158;  Antarctic 
current  of,  30;  argosies  on, 
77-78;  birds  of,  16-20,  28, 
56,  247;  influence  of,  on 
climate,  30,  105;  islands  of, 
121,  265;  pirates  on,  81-83; 
maker  of  terraces,  183;  tidal 
waves,  29,  100;  winds  of,  33; 
worship  of  as  Ni,  48. 

Ollanta,  133,  136,  137. 

Orchids,  253-255. 

Orcos,  Lake  of,  166-167. 

Ore,  Geronimo  de,  177. 

Orellana,  236. 

Organista  (bird),  249. 

Orinoco,  233,  236,  290. 

Pacay  (fruit),  23,  57. 
Paccari-tampu,  178,  179. 
Pachacamac,  4O~47>  4*.  X48,  174. 
177,  178,  214,  218,  299. 


[311] 


INDEX 


Paichi  (fish),  247. 

Palma,    Ricardo,    129-132,    303, 

304- 
Palta     (alligator-pear),    57,    122, 

198. 

Paraguay,  107,  237. 
Parrots,  45,  185,  240-241. 
Passion-flower,  50,  58,  113,  128. 

See  granadilla. 
Pastasa,  237. 
Patagonia,  37,  62,  265. 
Paucartampu,  231. 
Paul  III,  95. 
Paytiti,  233. 
Peccaries,  248,  288. 
Pedro,  San,  in,  112. 

See  Jesuits. 
Petroleum,  32. 
Philae,  164. 

Philip  II,  24,  92,  216,  217. 
Pica,  53-63. 
Picante  (sauce),  23,  60. 
Pirates,  76,  81-83. 

See  buccaneers,  freebooters,  El 

Dorado. 

Pisco,  Candelabrum  of,  20-21. 
Pizarro,    Francisco,    69,    70,    73, 
140. 

Gonzalo,  89,  236. 

Hernando,  41. 
Plague,  bubonic,  21. 
Plata,  Duque  de  la,  86. 
Pliny,  152. 

Poncho  (cloak),  57,  221. 
Poopo,  Lake  of,  169. 
Potosi,  78,  154. 
Prescott,  302. 
Prios,  287. 
Puma,  45,  171,  194,  243. 


Puna   (table-land),  3,  4,  31,  137, 
146-147,   150-151,  156,   184, 
227,  247. 
See  Andes. 

Quebradas  (gorges),  165. 
Quena  (flute),  131,  135,  224. 
Quichua    (language    of    Indians), 

134,  175,  i?6,  221,  301. 
Quick-silver, 

See  mercury. 
Quinine, 

See  cinchona. 
Quipus    (system    of     knots),    69, 

156,  160,  191,  302. 
Quito,  303. 

Races, 

See  Indians. 
Rainbow,  (cuychi),  159,  191,  206, 

296-298;  lunar,  60. 
Raleigh,  76,  236. 
Rig-Veda,  202. 
Rimac,  66,  103,  104. 
Rivers,  buried,  4,  31,  54,  55. 

See  irrigation,  valleys. 
Rosa,  Santa,  47,  102,  114-120. 
Rubber,  6,  10,  238. 
Ruins,  10,  35,  42,  43,  46,  51,  104, 
160,   161,   162-164,   182-187, 
299. 

See     Chanchan,     Pachacamac, 
Sachsahuaman,  Tiahuanacu. 

Sachsahuaman,  179,  200-201,  208, 

223. 

Salcamayhua,   175. 
San  Benito,  (mantle),  98. 
Sayri  Tupac,  214,  215. 


312] 


INDEX 


Seals,  18,  37. 

Seville,  79. 

Shelley,  13. 

Shore, 
See  coast. 

Silver  and  gold, 
See  gold  and  silver,  mines. 

Sloth,  263,  273,  280-282. 

Soroche    (mountain-sickness),    72, 
148. 

Soto,  Hernando  de,  69. 

South  Sea  Islands,  164. 

Southey,  Robert,  85,  302,  304. 

Spain,  74;  cost  to,  of  El  Dorado, 
85;  gold,  a  curse  to,  76-83; 
Inquisition  in,  95;  mission- 
aries of,  8,  50;  Peru  as  near 
unto  heaven  as,  9;  vicuna 
garments  taken  to,  24,  189. 
See  Andalusia,  Seville,  viceroys. 

Spaniards,  Arab  blood  of,  7-8; 
arrival  of,  68-73;  conquerors, 
24,  49,  72,  76;  coca  spoken  of 
by,  -181;  coming  foreshad- 
owed, 66-67;  greed  of,  160; 
at  Guatavita,  235;  Incas  as 
treated  by,  214-221;  Inca 
empire  destroyed  by,  198; 
Indians  as  treated  by,  89-91, 
220,  221;  in  jungle,  236; 
mines  of,  154,  see  mines; 
pirates  harass,  82;  rainbow 
a  symbol  to,  298;  treasure 
sought  by,  79,  167,  171;  vice- 
roy served  by,  85. 
See  Almagro,  Candia,  Carva- 
jal,  cinchona.,  gold  and  silver, 
Indians,  Oreilana,  Philip  II, 
Pisco,  Pizarro,  Plata,  Soto. 

[313] 


Spenser,  141,  273. 

Squier,  E.  G.,  200,  209. 

State    Papers,    Calendar  of,   82, 
302. 

Stonehenge,  164. 

Stiibel,  Alfons,  63,  304. 

Sugar,  6,  35,  43,  131,  143. 

Sun,  (Inti),  arms  of  the,  72;  blood 
of  the,  300;  body  of  the,  72; 
Children  of  the,  9,  145,  179, 
200,  211,  223;  City  of  the,  72; 
cliff  sacred  to,  171;  daughter 
of  the,  136;  empire  of  the, 
198,  207;  Father  of  Incas,  68, 
131,  170,  174,  188,  195;  festi- 
vals of  the,  207-213;  flocks 
of  the,  170,  175;  gold  be- 
longed to,  66,  77;  god  of  In- 
cas, 34,  39,  42,  159,  176,  193, 
203,  282;  Incas  doubt  divin- 
ity of,  209-210;  labor  given 
the,  194;  land  of  the,  34,  203, 
296;  messengers  of  the,  185, 
205,  208;  parentage  of  the, 
175;  priests  of  the,  41,  206; 
ritual,  40;  sacrifices  to  the, 
211-212;  service  of  the,  202- 
213;  Setting  of  the,  70; 
temples  of  the,  40-42,  66,  89, 
174,  196,  204-206,  223,  298; 
Virgins  of  the,  40,  41,  43, 172, 
184,  189,  207,  212;  worship 
of  the,  41,  43,  49,  *7S>  17*> 
198,  223,  285,301,302. 
See  gold  and  silver. 

Surumpe  (snow-blindness),  149- 

Tamarugo  (tree),  54. 
Tambo  (inn),  185. 


INDEX 


Tambo  de  Mora,  36. 

Tapir,  248,  272. 

Tarapaca,  54,  55,  56. 

Thunder  and  lightning,  4,  29,  67, 
71,  105,  205,  212. 

Tiahuanacu,  162-164,  J?^,  200, 
299. 

Titicaca,  Lake,  167-173,  179. 

Toribio,  Santo,  102. 

Torture, 

See  Inquisition. 

Totora  (reed),  168. 

Treasure,  buried,  36,  42,  49,  51, 
71,  73,  81,  83;  buried  in  lakes, 
66,  80,  166-167,  J71,  235>  °f 
churches,  88,  99;  fleets  of,  9, 
76-83,  302;  in  Luna,  84. 
See  gold  and  silver. 

Tschudi,  Juan  de,  80,  211,  299. 

Tuaregs,  27. 

Tumpinambaranas,  233. 

Tundoy,  or  tunduli  (drum),  291. 

Tupac  Amaru,  216,  217;  Condor- 
canqui,  called,  220,  221. 

Uiracocha,  Con  Tici,  164,  175; 
god  of  all  Quichua-speaking 
people,  176;  Huayna  Ccapac 
speaks  of,  66;  identified  with 
Pachacamac,  41,  174;  iden- 
tities of,  175-176;  Incas  pro- 
duced by,  179;  Son  of  Sun, 
178;  Spaniards  called  after, 
71-72,  220;  in  Tarapaca,  55. 


Ulloa,  236,  303. 
Uzaque  (chieftain),  234. 

Valleys,  of  desert,  3,  6,  35,  39,  40, 
43,  47,  48,  S3,  57,  103-105, 
see  Pica;  of  mountains,  6, 
144,  147,  165,  166,  197,  198, 

215,  224;     of    jungle,    240- 
244,  246,  see  Amazon. 

See  rivers. 

Vega,  Garcilasso  de  la,  37,  89, 
171,  185,  186,  194,-  214,  215, 

216,  300-301. 
Veragua,  265. 

Viceroys,  85-87,  96-98,  102,  117, 

139- 
Vicunas,    24,    149,   153,   155-156, 

189,  207. 
See  llamas. 
Viscachas  (animal),  147,  155. 

Yaravis  (music  of  Indians),  134. 

Yareta  (moss),  225. 

Ychu  (grass),  225. 

Yucay,  165, 170,  215. 

Yuncas,    38,    39,    51,    126,    128, 

282. 

See  Chimus. 
Yupanqui,   Tupac  Inca,   41,   49, 

162,  186,  198,  209,  231. 

Zarate,  184. 
Zerda,  235. 


[314] 


